Turkish mills have accepted a slight increase in import scrap prices, which, aside from their ongoing high costs of production, has given them some grounds for resisting discounts on their longs export prices. Although the overall demand has remained insufficient, some of the mills are attempting small price increases for rebar in particular. In the meantime, prices from North Africa are still competitive, especially from Egypt. In the domestic market, the general sentiment for demand is negative due to upcoming local elections and the Eid holiday period. However, this week there is some sales activity in Turkey and workable local prices are higher than export prices.
Currently, ex-Turkey rebar offers vary at $590-600/mt FOB for April shipment, versus $580-600/mt FOB a week ago, while a slightly higher level is being offered by a few suppliers only. Some inquiries have been seen from the UK and Germany, while Turkey has received an enquiry from the UK. However, North African suppliers are offering aggressive prices to these markets so “we are having difficulties in competing," a Turkish source mentioned. Ex-North Africa rebar offers vary at $575-580/mt FOB, SteelOrbis has heard.
In the Turkish domestic rebar market, most Marmara and Izmir region-based mills are offering rebar at $600-625/mt, versus $600-620/mt ex-works a week earlier. In the Izmir region, around 10,000 mt of rebar have been sold at $590/mt ex-works by the end of last week. In addition, 1,000-3,000 mt rebar lots are rumored to have been sold in the Iskenderun region at around TRY 23,600/mt ($611/mt) ex-works yesterday, March 26. One Marmara-based mill is expected to carry out scheduled maintenance works over five days during the Eid holiday, SteelOrbis has learned. Given the expected weak domestic demand during this period, more mills may adopt the same production policy.
In the wire rod segment, export offer levels vary at $600-610/mt FOB, versus $605/mt FOB for April shipment last week. Some orders have been coming from European buyers, while a sale to Latin America has been reported in the market, although the details have not been disclosed. Turkish domestic wire rod prices vary at $610-645/mt ex-works, up by $5/mt on the higher end. However, the higher end seems difficult to achieve for now.
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