Even though Ramadan was over, public and private sector companies in the Middle East extended their holidays into last week, and so a lack of clarity persisted regarding the future trend of the market. This week the markets in the Middle East and Turkey returned to work after their extended break. However, it has been observed that the desired levels of end-user demand have not yet been reached. On the contrary, raw material and semi-finished steel prices (which were at strong levels in the pre-Ramadan period) are now registering a downtrend.
Meanwhile, end-user demand is at low levels in the Turkish domestic rebar market. Local prices are decreasing as Turkish producers are not raising their export offer prices and/or they are mentioning low price levels depending on tonnage and location. Despite occasional price decreases in recent times due to the strength of the Turkish lira versus the US dollar, price levels seem to have registered an uptrend on a US dollar basis. Also, it is heard that the Turkish producers are having a tough time in the export markets. Turkish rebar exporters, in search of an alternative market as they do not have a particular leading export market for the time being, have currently set their price levels at $485/mt FOB Turkey.
On the other hand, local traders seem to be experiencing hard times in the UAE domestic market. There is an expectation of a price softening (even if a small one) due to low demand. For this reason importers are not in rush to make purchases from Turkey. It is heard that the market in general is livelier in Abu Dhabi compared to Dubai.
October rebar prices have been announced in Egypt. Price levels have remained unchanged from last month and Turkish exporters who would like to sell rebars to this market are not happy with this situation. It is heard that end-user demand is sluggish at the moment in the Egyptian domestic rebar market.