Local Turkish rebar market makes a quiet start to the week

Having mostly moved sideways last week, domestic rebar prices in Turkey increased slightly on Friday, January 12, due to the depreciation of the Turkish lira against the US dollar on the day in question. As a result, Turkish buyers had stepped up their domestic rebar purchases with the expectation of a further rise in prices. Since the appreciation of the Turkish lira against the US dollar recorded on Friday afternoon has been reflected in the local Turkish rebar market today, January 15, buyers have resumed their cautious stance as regards purchases.

Domestic rebar prices in Turkey’s Iskenderun region have declined by TRY 8-9/mt compared to January 11, while in other regions domestic rebar prices have moved sideways on Turkish lira basis, though they have increased by $1-3/mt on dollar basis due to the fluctuation of the exchange rate. On the other hand, after the rises seen in the local Turkish rebar market on Friday, it is observed that the market has made a downward start to the current week. Market sources state that the main reason for this downward movement is the decline seen in Chinese long steel export quotations which has caused buyers to maintain a cautious stance, especially as the Chinese quotations have been moving down almost without a pause since the beginning of 2018.

In this context, the depreciation of the Turkish lira against the US dollar recorded in the afternoon of today, January 15, has not yet caused any changes in the market. Buyers are still concerned due to the downward start Chinese long steel quotations have made to the current week and so they mostly prefer to maintain a wait-and-see stance. 

As of today, January 15, traders’ rebar offers in the Turkish domestic market are as follows:

All prices are ex-warehouse and on actual weight basis and exclude VAT.

$1 = TRY 3.78