Local Turkish rebar prices rise further amid higher costs, war-related expectations

Most Turkish rebar producers have started the week with price increases in their domestic market, citing the positive sentiments in the import scrap segment and the expected rise in energy costs due to the war in the Middle East. Most construction companies seem to be reluctant to purchase due to uncertain financial conditions, while a few local traders seem to be restocking material in order to benefit from the upward trend later. Most local buyers are struggling with high interest rates for loans and the ongoing currency fluctuations prevent them from restocking with high tonnages of rebar.

Official rebar offers and workable prices from the mills in the Marmara and Izmir regions, including İçdaş' prices, have settled at $595-615/mt ex-works and $595-605/mt ex-works, respectively, as compared to March 26. These prices indicate an increase of $5-10/mt over the past week. Sources report around 10,000-12,000 mt of rebar were traded at TRY 31,700/mt ($594/mt) ex-works in the Izmir region earlier today, marking the workable price in the region.

One of the Iskenderun region-based mills has set its official rebar price today at TRY 32,000/mt ($600/mt) ex-works, also up by TRY 1,100/mt ($20/mt) compared to March 26. Sources report that several Iskenderun-based rolling mills are offering rebar today to serious buyers at TRY 31,600-31,800/mt ($592-596/mt) ex-warehouse, up by TRY 1,000/mt ($17-18/mt) over the same period.

Domestic mills’ higher rebar prices have triggered another increase in the spot market by TRY 500-900/mt ($8-16/mt). Currently, local 12 mm rebar prices in the spot market are in the range of TRY 31,700-32,300/mt ($594-605/mt) ex-warehouse, depending on the region.

All prices are ex-warehouse and on actual weight basis. Prices in Turkish liras include 20 percent VAT, while prices in US dollars exclude VAT.

$1 = TRY 44.46