Rebar prices are this week showing decreases in the Iranian domestic market. Rebars with sizes of 12-25 mm have already been offered by local traders at a price level of $690-720/mt ex-stock Tehran for cash payment and prompt shipment, while they were offered at the level $740-770/mt just a week ago. There is no large transaction concluded at the level in question; although the price is negotiable and can be finalized at lower levels if a serious customer could be found.
State-owned steel plants could not sell any significant volume of rebar during last few days, as many customers have left the market or have been giving counter bids at quite low levels. Local traders have recently offered Azerbaijan Steel production rebars at about $558/mt ex-works, whereas they have offered Turkish origin rebars at the level of $507/mt through Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) as of December 24. However, this offer has not been accepted by suppliers. It is heard that a small volume (about 1300 mt) of ready stock Chinese origin rebar which had been supplied by Iran's Ministry of Commerce have been sold at $609/mt ex-Iranian southern ports through IME as of December 24. Nowadays, many market players have been holding off purchases since they expect more price reduction - which is more probable regarding the fact that global price levels of rebar are lower comparing to the level in the local Iranian market.
On the other hand, Iranian privately-owned rolling mills which have been increasing their capacities to about 10 million mt per annum in recent years, are experiencing the worst days at present. They are not able to compete with state-owned plants which have a higher capacity, financial sources and low priced iron ore. The current stagnation and price reduction of rebar have been putting the highest pressure on privately-owned rolling mills. Iran's Ministry of Industry and Mining has been supporting the local mills' proposal for increasing customs duty of rebar; however there is no success observed yet.