Turkish rebar exporters have had a quiet week in terms of sales. Amid slack export activity, at the beginning of the current week the domestic rebar sales of Turkish steel mills were also sluggish. As a result, Turkish steel mills were under greater pressure to conclude export sales, leading them to reduce their rebar export offers to $595/mt FOB on actual weight basis up to the middle of past week.
In subsequent days, the depreciation of the Turkish lira against the US dollar has pushed up domestic rebar quotations in Turkey, while expectations of a further rise in prices has caused domestic buyers to accelerate their purchases somewhat. On the back of the deals concluded in their domestic market, Turkish steel mills have gained support to once again increase their rebar export offers, raising them to minimum levels of $605/mt FOB on actual weight basis. Accordingly, Turkish rebar export offers are currently in the range of $605-610/mt FOB on actual weight basis.
However, the 25 percent Section 232 tariff imposed by the US on steel imports which will be effective within one week is still giving rise to uncertainty in the global long steel market. Meanwhile, the mostly downward movement indicated by Chinese billet and rebar quotations since the beginning of March has added to the uncertainties created by the Section 232 tariffs, causing buyers to be in no rush to conclude new transactions.