Following the IREPAS conference held this week in Barcelona, the general outlook regarding Turkish longs exports is still pessimistic, though some market players believe that import scrap prices for Turkey have bottomed up. Turkish mills are facing difficulties in exporting longs due to slow demand and strong competition from North Africa and the GCC. "Turkish mills are applying a diverse pricing strategy for export and local longs. They have raised their local rebar pricing amid the unclear financial situation in the country and are offering relatively aggressive pricing for exports to generate liquidity in US dollars," a source mentioned.
Currently, ex-Turkey rebar offers are standing at $620-630/mt FOB for May shipments, versus $635-650/mt FOB a week earlier. A 10,000-30,000 mt rebar sale has been rumored at $610-620/mt FOB on actual weight basis to the UK this week. Some say 30,000 mt is a bit high for a possible sale to this destination. In addition, sales of small tonnages have also been discussed in the market at $610/mt FOB on theoretical weight, equal to $635-640/mt FOB to Yemen done last week. However, this price level is not considered to be widely available this week.
In the local Turkish rebar market, a few mills are attempting to raise their rebar prices as some local traders are restocking material to be on the safe side if the depreciation of the Turkish lira against the US dollar gains momentum after the elections or if the election period is extended to include a second round. Sources report 40,000-50,000 mt of rebar have been traded in the Izmir, Marmara and Iskenderun regions at $635-640/mt ex-works since the beginning of this week. Some sources even evaluate deals to have totaled around 100,000 mt of rebar in the Izmir region alone at $645-650/mt ex-works in the past of couple of days. However, the total volume has not been confirmed by the time of publication. An Izmir-based mill issued its rebar price at TRY 14,850/mt ($645/mt) ex-works earlier today, and increased its price by another $5/mt in the afternoon following the latest import scrap deals heard and the ongoing currency fluctuations. A few mills in the Marmara region have stopped quoting rebar prices today.
In the wire rod segment, a few mills are offering at $630/mt FOB for May shipment, versus $650-655/mt FOB a week ago. Turkish domestic wire rod prices vary at $665-675/mt ex-works, falling by $25/mt on the higher end. "Most international buyers are postponing their purchases in order to monitor the import scrap price trend," a source told SteelOrbis. "Indonesian and Malaysian suppliers also seem to have become alternative suppliers for a few European customers," another source commented.