Ex-Turkey rebar and wire rod prices have increased significantly over the week supported by higher scrap prices, positive sentiment in China and some sufficient demand from buyers' side. Some of the mills have succeeded in selling longs abroad at the announced levels and are aiming to further increase their offers if the market fundamentals remain positive. Still, the situation is to gain clarity after the holidays.
While at the end of last week only a few mills have been voicing $720-725/mt FOB for rebar, this week almost all of the offers stood at $750/mt FOB. This level has been fixed in a 10,000 mt deal to Germany and a 15,000 mt sale to Yemen, SteelOrbis has learned. Right before the holidays some offers at $760-770/mt FOB have been also heard in the market and some sources reported the levels have been already accepted for small lots. However, next week the situation is to gain much more clarity. “Scrap will most probably go far over $500/mt CFR and mills will not step back just yet. Even if China slows down, the prices today are high enough for some good business,” a trader said.
In the local market, most Turkish mills have stopped quoting for the local market due to the holiday. The general price ranges in the Marmara and İzmir region were at $730-745/mt ex-works, while the spot rebar prices were available at $720-730/mt ex-warehouse. According to sources total of around 40,000 mt of rebar were traded at $710-720/mt ex-works in İzmir early this week.
In the wire rod export segment, the price situation is not yet clear. Some of the mills have started the week with offers at $800-815/mt FOB versus $780-790/mt FOB seen earlier. However, there has been information about a 30,000 mt sale to the Netherlands at $840/mt FOB, but the deal has not been confirmed by the time of publication. “The abovementioned price seems a bit difficult to achieve these days” a source mentioned.