Turkey’s long steel export segment is still sluggish amid weak international demand and competitive offers from Asia and the MENA region, which prevents Turkey from selling particularly to Far Eastern and European markets. Moreover, although the ongoing depreciation of the lira in theory supports more flexible export pricing, it is rare now to hear a sizeable overseas transaction from Turkey. In the domestic market, the same currency issue has been weighing heavily on business activity. Still, taking into account the relative positivity in the scrap segment, mills are refraining from giving large discounts for rebar and wire rod.
Currently, ex-Turkey rebar offers are standing at $625-630/mt FOB for July shipments, versus $630-635/mt FOB a week ago. 7,000 mt of rebar lot is rumored to have been sold to Ethiopia at $630/mt FOB on actual weight. However, further details have not been confirmed by the time of publication.
In the local Turkish rebar market, trading activity is slow due to the unclear financial situation in the country, the US Federal Reserve interest rate decision today, and the Turkish Central Bank’s interest rate decision due on Thursday, June 22. Even if the interest rates in Turkey are revised at some point, the week after the interest rate decision is an official holiday in the public sector and so any impact from the decision will likely be seen after the Feast of Sacrifice holiday. A few mills are offering rebar at TRY 18,050-18,450/mt ($649-663/mt) ex-works based on the $1 = TRY 23.58 exchange rate. It is worth mentioning that the gap between local prices and export prices has widened as most Turkish mills are attempting to be on the safe side and seek to keep their official rebar prices stable amid the current economic situation in the country.
In the wire rod segment, ex-Turkey offers are available at $635-640/mt FOB for July shipment, falling by $5/mt over the past week. In the Turkish domestic wire rod market, official local prices are standing at $646-670/mt ex-works.