Lebanon is facing challenges both on financial and economic aspects for a long period and the situation has been getting tougher due to the geopolitical unrest in the Middle East. Turkey used to be one of the main suppliers, while most Northern African suppliers are putting pressure with aggressive pricing strategy in order to generate sales, taking into account their material is not subject to an import tax in Lebanon.
Currently, ex-Turkey rebar offers at $610-620/mt FOB, falling by $10/mt on the higher end, while wire rod prices vary at $630-635/mt FOB versus $640/mt FOB a month earlier. Freight is mostly stable at $15-20/mt from Turkey to Lebanon for the small tonnages. Ex-Egypt rebar offers are available at $590-600/mt FOB, coming up to around $605-615/mt CFR, while Libya is in the market with $550-565/mt FOB offers. The freight is estimated at over $30/mt for 4,000-5,000 mt cargoes. As for Saudi Arabia, some sources have reported offers at around $600/mt FOB or close to $620-625/mt delivered. As a result, Arabic origins of long products are even cheaper than the ones from Turkish mills, although the latter have an opportunity to supply with a shorter lead time.
In the domestic retail market of Lebanon, the prices for ex-Egypt rebar have been reported at $640/mt CPT, but some of the offers of Russian material, according to sources, make the trade difficult. Some of the market players have reported Russian material being available at $550-570/mt CPT, which is considered low, though not impossible. “It is a low price and there are higher prices in Russian domestic market nowadays. Maybe these [tonnages] are from previous positions or for a second-grade material,” a market source assumed.
Rare offers of ex-Iran mixed longs lots have been voiced at $480-495/mt CPT, marking the lowest level available. However, the majority of importers are not willing to take the risk if they import Iranian material. Therefore, they prefer sticking to deals with Egypt particularly. A month ago, local rebar prices in Lebanon were at $620-680/mt CPT, the lower end was for Egyptian origin, while the higher end was for Saudi material.