A majority of Turkey’s longs producers have kept their export and domestic price levels stable over the past week, despite the fact that overall demand has remained insufficient, especially in overseas markets. The Balkan region still seems the most active in terms of purchases from Turkey, considering the latest deals done, while most EU buyers refrain from concluding purchases, fearing the quota for the last quarter of the year will be exhausted shortly after the start of the period. In the meantime, import scrap prices in Turkey are considered weak, causing longs buyers to seek discounts, while Turkish mills are trying to resist, citing ongoing high production costs, while currently import billet prices are in general unworkable.
Ex-Turkey rebar offers are still available at $535-540/mt FOB for October shipments, unchanged over the past week. According to sources, around 30,000 mt of rebar have been recently traded to Albania at $535/mt FOB, relatively stable compared to the previous deals to the Balkan region. As a result, the Balkans still seem to be the main market for Turkish longs export lately. In Israel, which used to be one of the main sales destinations for Turkey previously, Turkish rebar offers are at least $20/mt higher than offers from China and Russia and so are uncompetitive.
In the Turkish domestic rebar market, the official offers still stand at $535-555/mt ex-works. Sources report that the general workable rebar prices in the Marmara and Izmir regions have remained stable over the past week at $530-545/mt ex-works. An Iskenderun region-based mill has issued its official rebar price on September 24 at around $553/mt ex-works for an extended delivery period, down by $2/mt over the past week. According to sources, the latest workable rebar price in this region stands at around $535-540/mt ex-works, stable over the observed period.
In the wire rod segment, export prices have also anchored at $545-550/mt FOB for end-of-October shipments. Locally, workable wire rod prices are standing at $540-555/mt ex-works, unchanged week on week.