Turkish suppliers are attempting to keep their rebar export prices firm and even increase them in order to balance their long product sales versus the recent hikes in their production costs, specifically in energy costs since the beginning of the month. International buyers are delaying new purchases and are exerting pressure for additional discounts, while Turkish domestic trading activity is also sluggish during the current Ramadan period. In addition, the EU rebar and wire rod quotas for the second quarter have already been exhausted.
Ex-Turkey rebar mills are offering rebar at $960-970/mt FOB, versus $950-960/mt a week ago, for late May shipment, while slightly higher levels are available from a few suppliers for longer lead times. A fresh 10,000 mt lot of rebar has been traded at $995/mt FOB to Germany this week, with the price higher than the current general rebar price range as the lot may require prompt shipment, SteelOrbis understands. Sources report that a 7,000 mt batch of rebar has been traded to Ethiopia at $960/mt FOB this week, though this has not been officially confirmed by the time of publication. Moreover, one or two small cargoes of rebar are rumoured to have been sold at $920/mt FOB last week, SteelOrbis has heard. Some people say the destinations may have been in Europe.
In the Turkish domestic rebar market, the official rebar prices in the Marmara and Izmir regions vary at $960-970/mt ex-works, up $10/mt week on week, while a few mills are also giving aggressive pricing to the local market. According to sources, around 16,000 mt of rebar in total have been traded in the Izmir region at around $930/mt ex-works since the beginning of this week.
In the wire rod segment, most suppliers’ wire rod prices are available at $1,050-1,070/mt FOB for June shipments, up $10/mt on the higher end over the past week. One mill is also voicing $1,120/mt FOB, having raised its price by $20/mt over the past week to be on the safe side when rising production costs are taken into account for June material. No fresh wire rod deals have been heard for now.