It is observed that most international market players have not yet returned from Christmas and New Year holidays, while the demand received from those who have returned by Turkish rebar mills is at low levels.
Despite Turkish trade minister Ruhsar Pekcan’s statement last week about Turkey expecting the US to remove the 25 percent additional duty imposed within the scope of Section 232 on imports of Turkish steel, no development on this subject has been heard, and so there continues to be no demand for Turkish rebar in the US.
On the other hand, SteelOrbis has been informed that the quota of 714,964 mt imposed by the European Commission on rebar imports (valid for the period up to February 3, 2019) has been filled. Within the scope of the new quotas, Turkey is allowed to export only 117,231 mt of rebar to the European Union (EU) in the February 2, 2019-June 30, 2019 period. However, since Turkish mills have already received orders from the EU for much more than this tonnage for February deliveries, they are not expected to receive further demand from the EU.
Meanwhile, Turkish rebar exporters’ offers have remained stable over the past week and are still at $450-455/mt FOB.