The decision of the UAE’s key steel producer Emirates Steel Industries to roll over its official rebar offers for September production at AED 1,953/mt ($532/mt) ex-works was rather unexpected as normally the mill would announce its level closer to the end of the month. Local re-rollers have followed the same move, having left their official tags at AED 1,950/mt ($531/mt) ex-works. However, according to the market sources, the most recent deals were closed within the range of AED 1,880-1,900/mt ($512-518/mt) CPT with 60 to 90-day deferred payment.
Official offers from Oman to the UAE have remained stable for September as well, at AED 1,920/mt ($523/mt) CPT for 90-day deferred payment. According to market information, Omani mills have sold not more than 20,000-25,000 mt of rebar for August production at AED 1,890-1,900/mt ($515-518/mt) CPT UAE; new deals are expected to be at around the same prices. Domestic rebar offers in Oman are set at OMR 190/mt ($494/mt) ex-works, SteelOrbis has learned.
August rebar consumption in the UAE is estimated by market players at around 240,000 mt, and at 60,000 mt in Oman. “We can say demand is improved as in June it was below 200,000 mt [in the UAE]. But it is still below last year’s levels,” a GCC-based producer told SteelOrbis. Players do not expect local rebar demand in the UAE to improve further in September.
$1 = AED 3.67
OMR 1 = $2.60