Notwithstanding the end of the Eid holiday, the business environment in the long steel segment in the GCC has failed to improve. With orders having dwindled to almost nothing, suppliers have no other choice but to lower prices to obtain single orders. While most market insiders remain highly skeptical towards any positive developments in the nearest future, some market sources do not exclude seeing at least some rise in inquiries next week. “It is a common situation for the post-Eid period. Most of the decision-makers are still on leave. The market will improve by the end of this week. I haven't seen any panic situation lately,” a major trader commented.
One way or another, according to market sources, rebar prices in the latest orders in the UAE have declined to AED 2,980/mt ($811/mt) CPT, for 90-day LC payment. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, in the second half of April the official offers for rebar produced by the local producers Emirates Steel Industries (ESI) and Union Iron & Steel for May production have been issued at AED 3,175/mt ($864.5/mt) ex-works. Subsequently, the suppliers have been struggling to obtain orders at AED 3,050-3,070/mt ($830-836/mt) ex-works. “Unfortunately, the market has lost any kind of support,” a trader stated. “I would say demand now is zero,” a market source commented with regard to the current market developments. “It is partly a matter of low demand, partly contractors are taking only what they immediately require. They know that every day they wait, they will get better prices,” another major GCC-based trader stated.
Meanwhile, local retailers have reduced their prices to AED 2,975-3,050/mt ($810-830/mt) ex-warehouse, with the highest end of the range being valid for ESI-origin material, down around AED 154-176/mt ($42-48/mt) from the previous levels.
In the meantime, the situation in Oman has developed likewise. Local rebar prices have dropped to OMR 310-315/mt ($806-819/mt) delivered, from the pre-holiday levels at OMR 320/mt ($832/mt) delivered, though after the end of Eid holiday the prices were expected to reach OMR 335-340/mt ($871-884/mt) delivered. “There is extremely low demand here now. Moreover, no immediate recovery is expected in the coming weeks,” a market source stated. Rare rebar sales have been reported in the UAE at AED 3,040/mt ($828/mt) CPT in late April.
$1 = AED 3.67
$1 = OMR 0.3845