Turkish longs producers remain in a rather tough business situation, with their rebar sales being quite low. Their exports are still mainly slow despite some renewed activity by buyers from Latin America, Yemen and the Balkan region. In the domestic rebar market, the previous attempts to pass on the rise in import scrap prices have failed, with trade remaining limited and with workable prices basically rolling back to the earlier levels. As regards exports, the situation is additionally aggravated by the competition with North Africa, while in the domestic market the Turkish lira's depreciation and the overall difficult financial environment are still affecting daily business activities.
In the local Turkish rebar market, most Marmara region-based mils are officially offering rebar at $580-590/mt ex-works, unchanged from a week ago, including the indications from Icdas A.S. Moreover, a few Marmara-based mills have started testing $595/mt ex-works today, July 29, SteelOrbis has heard. Most offers in the Izmir region are at around $570-580/mt ex-works, stable over the past week, with offers for cash payment at $568-570/mt ex-works, down by $5/mt. In the Iskenderun region, some mills' official offers are at $578/mt ex-works, down by $2/mt from last week, with the tradable levels settling again at $570/mt ex-works, also indicating a decrease of $5/mt over the past week. The general workable rebar price range in the domestic market in Turkey varies at $568-580/mt ex-works, with trade reported to be at rather low levels.
Turkish rebar export offers for August and early September shipments are standing at $570-580/mt FOB, up by $5/mt over the past week due to higher scrap prices and partially due to certain issues with the availability of billet with short lead times. In fact, some mills have even started quoting $585/mt FOB, but this is mainly evaluated as unworkable for now. Last week, medium-sized cargoes were closed from Turkey to Yemen at $565-570/mt FOB. Most European buyers are inactive due to the holidays, with their activity to resume not earlier that late August and for the next EU quota period.
In the wire rod segment, Turkish domestic wire rod prices have remained unchanged at $580-590/mt ex-works this week. Turkish wire rod export prices have increased by $5/mt to $580-590/mt FOB for overseas markets for August shipments. A few mills have even started quoting $595/mt FOB this week, SteelOrbis has heard, but the level is not considered workable.
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