The current stagnation in the Iranian steel markets has been characterized by weak demand for certain long products including U-beam, angles, and flat bars, though demand for I-beam still remains high. As one of the main construction materials, I-beam (especially IPN) is showing high levels of supply and demand compared to the general levels for long products.
In Iran's domestic I-beam market, 140-180 mm IPN sizes (demand is highest for these sizes) are currently being transacted by local traders at $800-840/mt ex-stock Tehran. For several weeks now the IPN market has been experiencing price variations of $10-20/mt. However, there has not been any really significant change in IPN prices in the local market from the middle of October up to the present. In spite of the overall stagnation in Iran's steel markets there are no signs of a fall in market demand for IPN. On Sunday, December 15 at the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME), 140-180 mm IPN sizes from Esfahan Steel were sold at $738/mt with 35-day delivery and for cash payment. On the day in question Esfahan Steel sold about 50,000 mt of the IPN sizes in question, whereas the IME registered a total demand of 140,000 mt for this material.
80-180 mm U-beam currently stands in a price range of $770-760/mt ex-stock Tehran - down $10-20/mt compared with our previous analysis of the end of November. U-beam prices have been following a fairly stable trend in Iran in recent weeks. Domestic U-beam production, however, is unable to meet market demand, with most of Iran's demand for U-beam imports being satisfied by the CIS, China and Turkey. Meanwhile, local I-beam production - and U-beam production as well, as the mills in question are also capable of production U-beam - is expected to register a substantial increase as some privately-owned rolling mills have come on stream recently, while more will be put into operation in the near future.
The latest transactions for 30 x 30 - 120 x 120 mm size angles have been completed at $710-790/mt ex-stock Tehran, while this material stood at $690-830/mt the week before and at $720-800/mt two weeks previous. The Iranian angles market, which is dominated by local suppliers, is showing greater fluctuations compared with the markets for I-beam and U-beam. One of the main factors influencing market prices is the global price of billet. Most local rolling mills which produce angles use imported billet and so naturally global prices have a direct influence on their production costs. Meanwhile, fluctuations in local market demand constitute another major factor influencing angle prices.