While most of the US rebar market is just getting back to work after the holiday season, there are early indications that import rebar offers from Turkey might see an attempted uptrend once again. Buying activity has been slow so far this week, according to sources, but rising scrap prices in Turkey mean that deals for below offer prices last seen in late December might not be available anymore. The last-heard offers for imported rebar in the US domestic market from Turkey were in the range of $23.00-$24.00 cwt. ($460-$480/nt or $507-$529/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Quiet buying activity has left that range stable for now, but sources tell SteelOrbis that the situation could change by next week.
However, sources also point out a complicating factor in any attempt to raise import rebar offers from Turkey: currently-arriving positions. As of December 27, US import license data showed 114,838 mt of import rebar permits from Turkey for the month, up from 99,361 mt (preliminary census data) in November. If these numbers are heralding another strong import influx in the first quarter, the pressure to move inventory at the ports could hamper attempts to raise new offer prices.