U-beam prices in Iran's domestic market are coming down substantially, following the downward trend which has been affecting the overall steel market (including both longs and flats) for a few weeks now. 100-160 mm U-beam sizes are already being transacted in a price range of $1,310-1,335/mt ex-works Tehran for immediate delivery, while the same U-beam sizes had stood in a range of $1,410-1,460/mt at the beginning of August and at $1,580-1,680/mt at the beginning of July. Thus, compared with early July, the current U-beam price levels show a reduction of $270-350/mt, which is higher than the reduction seen for other long products.
Iran's U-beam market has been monopolized mainly by the CIS, China, Turkey and other overseas suppliers due to the fact that local mills (in both public and private sectors) are not so interested in producing U-beams, preferring to produce other sections instead. U-beams have held the highest prices among long products in recent years in the Iranian market, and even now, after experiencing a strong downtrend, U-beam prices are still significantly higher than prices for I-beam and other long products. The low supply of U-beam from local mills is the main reason why U-beam prices have surpassed the prices of other long products, both in the past and also at the present time.
Nowadays most local buyers are looking forward to further price reductions for U-beam due to the market circumstances. Consequently, the U-beam transaction volume has declined substantially in the local market as most customers have postponed their purchases in the hope of further price reductions.
Finally, according to Iranian customs data, Iran imported about 80,000 mt of U-beam in the past four months, while it imported about 150,000 mt in the corresponding period of the last Iranian year (21.03.2007-20.03.2008). Iran imported around 300,000 mt of U-beam in the whole of the last Iranian year.