Rebar prices in the local Iranian market have now entered a declining trend following several weeks of stability. Currently, 12-25 mm rebar sizes in the Iranian market are in a range of $550-560/mt ex-stock Tehran, down from $570-590/mt ex-stock Tehran a week ago, having peaked at $600/mt on occasion during the previous four to five weeks. Since most of the rebar output from Iranian private sector rolling mills is produced from imported billet, most traders think that the decline in prices of CIS billet has been one of main factors causing prices to fall in the local Iranian rebar market.
Taking a look at rebar trading activity at the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME), which can serve as a good indicator of the market situation, on July 19 Azarbaijan Steel, a state-owned rolling mill with an annual capacity of about 550,000 mt, offered 5,000 mt of 14-25 mm rebar at $540/mt ex-stock with 35-day delivery; however, buyers made no bid for the material in question. In addition, on the same day at the IME, a batch of Chinese origin 20-32 mm rebar was offered at $470/mt ex-stock Tehran; in response buyers made a bid of $440/mt but no transaction was concluded.
Both buyers and sellers are very uncertain about the future direction of rebar prices in Iran, and this uncertainty is the main factor which prevents them from concluding transactions at present. In the four to five weeks which preceeded the past week, the local rebar market in Iran had been characterized by price stability, thus providing a reassuring environment for both buyers and sellers, with the result that some large transactions were concluded in spite of the general stagnation of the market. However, since prices started falling during the past week, a decline has also been observed in the transaction volume.