The import scrap price trend in Turkey, which normally impacts nearby market prices for longs as well, has been moving upward lately, reaching $405-415/mt CFR, and the market has gained confidence. As a result, longs prices in Turkey itself, but also in Egypt, have increased over the past week. Still, further market developments need to be seen in order to understand the level of acceptance of the new longs offer levels. In the meantime, the availability of longs from North Africa is limited due to the absence of Algeria.
In Turkey, most longs producers are offering at $600/mt FOB for rebar, versus $580-600/mt FOB at the end of last week, while in the domestic market the official offers for rebar have increased by $15/mt over the same period to $595-620/mt ex-works depending on the mill and the region. In the wire rod segment, export and local offers are at $620/mt FOB and $610-645/mt ex-works, up $20-30/mt and $20/mt over the past week, respectively.
In Egypt, one mill has increased its rebar and wire rod export offers from $580-590/mt FOB to $600/mt FOB over the past fortnight, while another one is now offering at $610/mt FOB for both products, up $30-35/mt over the past two weeks. In Algeria, one mill has been having an issue with its DRI module again, which has limited the longs allocation for the domestic market. As a result, no export offers have been heard from Algeria, also amid mills’ focus on local buyers.
