Prices have continued to drop in the Turkish domestic market this week due to the very weak level of demand. Earlier this week, traders in the domestic market transacted rebars at TRY 1.297-1.314/mt ($705-714/mt) excluding VAT, ex-warehouse. Because of the continuing weak demand, by the middle of the week, price levels further dropped to TRY 1.271-1.297/mt ($691-705/mt) excluding VAT, ex-warehouse. On Thursday, rebar prices in the Marmara region fell by TRY 80/mt over the previous revision dated September 20, and stood at TRY 1,271/mt ex-works, excluding VAT. Finally, as of the end of the week, prices at domestic traders were transacted at TRY 1.237-1.263/mt ($672-686/mt) ex-warehouse.
In recent weeks, the inventory levels of local traders dropped sharply as they delayed purchases because of the slow demand in the Turkish domestic market. This downward trend is expected to continue early next week.
As most export markets of Turkey are also slow in terms of demand, the downward trend is similiarly continuing in these export markets. Turkish steel producers are offering at $25/mt lower than last week for end October/early November shipments, with offers currently given at $670-685/mt FOB on actual weight basis. Except for the last booking levels concluded to the UAE and Egypt, buyers are reported to be still expecting price levels to see a further drop. SteelOrbis understands from the market that buyers are waiting for a further softening before they restart their purchases.
As per September data, Turkey's top 10 rebar export markets are as follows :
Country |
Tonnage (mt) |
|
Sept 2010 |
Sept 2011 |
|
UAE |
104.941,44 |
137.560,05 |
Iraq |
46.847,07 |
79.037,18 |
Israel |
21.521,77 |
44.820,12 |
Ethiopia |
9.697,70 |
44.093,26 |
Singapore |
- |
43.112,90 |
Egypt |
28.107,54 |
38.744,99 |
Saudi Arabia |
281,58 |
28.112,86 |
Panama |
159,39 |
25.525,36 |
Syria |
611,43 |
24.914,65 |
Lebanon |
3.017,80 |
23.598,47 |
Source: (İMMİB)
Turkey's total rebar exports in September increased by 5.41 percent to 613,525 mts, compared to the same period last year.
USD 1 = TRY 1.84