Iran’s rebar market expected to rise on back of billet uptrend

The Iranian market is expecting a rising trend for rebar prices in the coming weeks since billet prices in Iran have been climbing steadily in the last few days and are already standing at about $460-480/mt ex-stock. Currently, 12-25 mm rebar is at a price range of $540-550/mt ex-stock Tehran, close to last week's range of $540-560/mt.
 
Most Iranian private sector rolling mills have closed their sales as they are optimistic that the billet price increases in both the local and global markets will push rebar prices up to higher levels in the coming weeks. Some local traders, especially those that lack large financial resources, are not so interested in placing large orders at present as there is still an absence of strong demand in the local market. On the other hand, traders that have sufficient financial resources are not hesitating to place orders at the current time even in the existing stagnant market circumstances, since there is no doubt that existing prices are at rock bottom levels and are unable to decrease any further. Of course, Ramadan which has just begun is usually a month of stagnation in the markets of Islamic countries; however, considering the development of local and global markets in recent weeks, a jump in rebar prices may this year be seen even during Ramadan.
 
Iranian governmental steel plants and rolling mills are continuing their sales activities at present. Today, August 26, Khorasan Steel sold a batch of 12-20 mm rebar through the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) at $536/mt ex-stock for immediate delivery. Also today at the IME, Azarbaijan Steel failed to sell 14-25 mm rebar at $515/mt with 25-day delivery, as the would-be buyers bid just $500/mt. Esfahan Steel, Iran's main producer of rebar, has not made any supply of A3 grade rebar via the IME during the current week.
 
According to the new figures from the Iranian customs authorities, Iran imported about 273,000 mt of rebar in the first four months of the current Iranian year (started on March 21), compared to about 423,000 mt in the corresponding period of last year, i.e., down 55 percent year on year.