The increases in global steel prices appear to be finally influencing rebar prices in the local Iranian market, which have lately been observing a rising movement. The latest booking of 12-25 mm rebar in the local Iranian market was completed at $545-580/mt ex-stock Tehran, up from $535-550/mt the week before and $525-540/mt two weeks ago.
The Iranian rebar market had remained sunk in a state of deep stagnation during the summer even though the season is usually a peak period for construction activity and thus generally leads to booming demand for rebar. For more than two months now a rising trend has been seen in flat product prices in Iran under the influence of global developments, whereas the markets for rebar, I-beam and other long products in Iran were very quiet during the same period. Most market participants were very surprised at the ongoing stability of long product prices in Iran during the period in question, at a time while semi-finished steel (mainly billet) prices were soaring globally.
However, the Iranian rebar market now seems to be reviving after several months of calm. A new rising trend is observed in the local rebar market, though there are still doubts as to whether the upward movement can be sustained. Not only has local market demand for rebar not increased in recent weeks, but also a certain drop in local demand can be expected due to the approach of autumn. There is no doubt that local demand is not boosting prices in Iran at present; instead the main impetus for the uptrend in Iranian rebar prices comes from the global rising trend of steel prices, in particular for semi-finished products.
In the last Iranian year (ended March 20), Iranian state-owned steel plants and rolling mills produced about three million mt of rebar, Iranian privately-owned rolling mills produced about 1.5 million mt of the same product, while Iran imported around 900,000 mt.