According to market sources, Turkish rebar offers to the export markets have remained unchanged since last week, at $570-575/mt FOB. Even though demand has remained sluggish, Turkish producers have maintained their firm stance on prices due to a $5/mt week-on-week increase in HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices to $378-388/mt CFR.
On the other hand, the decision of Metinvest and some other Ukrainian producers to stop accepting new export orders due to the ongoing crisis in the east of the country has caused tightness in availability of Ukrainian billet for Turkey. Turkish producers have no option left but to use import scrap for their production which has expanded over the past week due to the tightness in availability of import billet.
Since last week, ex-China billet offers to Turkey have also increased, while it is thought that Turkish producers are showing greater interest in Chinese billet offers as opposed to offers for domestic billet and imported billet of other origin, which are considered to be on the high side. The 25 percent duty on Chinese steel exports is not applied for exports of square billets.
Turkish producers expect demand for rebar from the UAE, Israel and Yemen to increase in the coming week, and so it is thought that buyers in these destinations will probably conclude deals for Turkish rebar.