At the beginning of this week, the price for Turkish rebar on ex-works basis increased to the level of $610/mt in the domestic market. High tonnage bookings were slightly lower than the level of $600/mt. However, as of today, it has been heard that prices at the level of $617/mt were announced in Marmara. The traders welcomed the increasing prices due to the lack of trader inventories in the domestic market and also due to the fact that some traders concluded sales above what they had in their inventories in recent weeks. Despite all this, it would be difficult to say that the market is registering high levels of activity.
With regard to exports, Turkish offers for destinations other than the US and Persian Gulf for January shipment were at the level of $590-600/mt FOB at the beginning of the week, going on to increase to the level of $600-610/mt FOB in the middle of the week. It would not be easy to say that there is a high demand for the new levels. Nevertheless, the conclusion of some small tonnage bookings has been reported at levels close to $600/mt FOB. On the other hand, the offers for the UAE are at the level of $630/mt CFR on a theoretical weight basis. The buyers in the UAE are approaching the rapidly soaring prices with prudence. It is likely that Turkish mills will insist on the abovementioned prices due to the billet and scrap prices levels, which continue to see an increase.
As regards the European markets, they are still not doing well; however, producers are trying to show their customers that prices have bottomed out. Price levels are quite close to each other throughout Europe. The rebar prices on delivered to warehouse basis in England are at the level of €290/mt ($596/mt), at $580-600/mt in Romania and at €415-425/mt ($614-629/mt) in Italy. The price level of B500S 12 mm rebar in the local Spanish market is at the level of €435-440/mt ($644-651/mt).
In particular, Spanish and Italian producers have recently been under pressure to sell. The producers in both Spain and Italy are trying to increase their prices in order to prove to the market that the current prices have bottomed out and also in an effort to survive the crisis. Spanish producers hiked their domestic market prices by approximately €5/mt this week. On the other hand, Italian producers have been unable to impose their desired increases in the domestic market and are giving offers for export at the level of €410/mt FOB, which is €5-10/mt higher than the previous sales levels.
The price hike in the Turkish domestic rebar market, which started at the beginning of last week, has activated the Turkish and Ukrainian billet prices as well. It is heard that mills in Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE are currently in the market for billet purchases. This situation may also have a positive influence on the Middle East rebar market. On the other hand, the European market is still slow and prices there are registering low levels; however, the positive movements in the Middle Eastern, Turkish and CIS billet and longs markets may affect the European market in a positive way.