Lebanon continues to face enormous economic challenges, with its collapsed banking sector, eroding public services and deteriorating infrastructure, so the general sentiment on steel consumption remains rather negative. The import longs market in Lebanon is dominated mainly by Arabic origins since they are duty-free in Lebanon, but also by Russian origin due to its aggressive pricing. Some buyers are refraining from restocking as they believe import prices may fall in the short term.
Currently, a few ex-Russia rebar and wire rod offers are standing at $560-570/mt and $580/mt, respectively, both on CFR Beirut basis. Some sources have reported small sales of rebar within the mentioned range, while others mention that a large Russian longs cargo recently arrived in port. "The Russian material is not imported by the traditional steel importers due to sanctions. It is imported by some entity which keeps the goods in the port free zone, and resells in retail to anyone who wants to buy against cash payment," a local source told SteelOrbis.
According to sources, small rebar sales have been concluded at $570/mt CFR Beirut from Saudi Arabia, while another rebar sale was concluded at $580/mt CFR Beirut from Egypt. Currently, Egypt is offering at $560-575/mt FOB for both rebar and wire rod in the region, which is around $580-600/mt CFR to Lebanon. In addition, one of the Algerian mills has been offering both rebar and wire rod at $570/mt FOB, with the estimated freight to Lebanon at around $40/mt for 5,000 mt cargoes.
The offers from Turkey are a little higher than from the other countries due to its costlier energy. A few Turkish mills are testing $565/mt FOB for rebar or around $580-585/mt CFR Beirut lately, down around $10-15/mt over the past month. Ex-Turkey wire rod is offered at $580-590/mt FOB or $595-605/mt CFR Beirut, down by around $10/mt over the same period.
Local rebar prices are at around $665-680/mt CPT, Russian origin material included, versus $680-700/mt CPT a month ago. Moreover, local wire rod prices at are around $690/mt CPT. All local prices include 11 percent VAT.
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