Rebar prices have been climbing rapidly both last week and during the current week in the local Iranian market. 12-25 mm rebar sizes are now changing hands in the Iranian market at $610-635/mt, up from $550-560/mt just one week ago and from $530-540/mt two weeks ago. For the last two or three weeks the prices of most long and flat steel products have been increasing in the Iranian domestic market, as rebar, as the most sensitive item among the long products, has already registered the highest increase margin.
On June 10, Esfahan Steel sold about 33,000 mt of rebar via the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) at $545/mt ex-works with 73-day delivery and for cash payment. It had sold the same material through the IME at $570-610/mt on June 7.
On June 10, a ready stock batch of 5,000 mt of Turkish rebar was sold via the IME at $535/mt ex-stock Iranian southern ports, while the same material was sold at $495/mt via the IME on June 3.
A batch of 5,000 mt of Chinese rebar (China Shougang production) was sold at $525/mt ex-stock Iranian southern ports through the IME on June 10, while the same material was sold at $497/mt through the IME on June 1.
Surprisingly, the increase in the local Iranian rebar market has occurred in the absence of any significant upturn in demand levels. The presidential election will be held in Iran on June 12 and this may be one of the factors which has sparked demand in the local market; meanwhile, the rise in global oil prices over the past few weeks is also an influential factor.