Longs suppliers in the Mediterranean region have seen a certain revival in demand from the European Union, although most buyers from these countries are checking Turkish offers, since the quota for the material of this origin has been not yet used up. Moreover, the lower scrap prices and insufficient demand have dragged down ex-Turkey offers by around $10-15/mt over the past two weeks. In the meantime, North African suppliers are trying to avoid large discounts and are keeping their offers stable compared with mid-October.
Turkish mills are offering now at $540-550/mt FOB for rebar and at around $560/mt FOB for wire rod at the lowest indications. These levels have been finding feedback in some European countries, namely, Romania, Bulgaria, Germany and Greece, as well as some distant markets like Jamaica. However, although the temporary surge of the demand is supporting Turkish mills, it is still not yet enough to increase prices. Still, some sources believe that the production cost increase in Europe may support the longs price uptrend in the region.
Ex-Asia offers have remained more or less indicative and relatively stable over a couple of weeks at $525-535/mt FOB from Indonesia and Vietnam, with the freight estimated at around $60-65/mt. Currently, this origin is not of any interest in the EU since the “others” quota for the fourth quarter has already been used up.
North African longs prices have decreased by $10-15/mt over the past month, but have been hovering within a relatively stable range within the past couple of weeks. The lowest price levels in Egypt are at around $550-560/mt FOB for both rebar and wire rod, while some sellers are aiming at levels $10/mt higher. The lower end of the range has been seen in a recent wire rod sale to the EU, while the higher end has been fixed in offers to Romania and sales to Saudi Arabia.
A Libyan producer is targeting around $555/mt FOB for rebar, particularly in offers to Lebanon, which is considered a little high, especially given offers from Saudi Arabia at $530/mt FOB. Moreover, the Lebanese market is currently reporting limited business activity.
One of the Algerian mills is reported to be offering at $555/mt FOB for both rebar and wire rod for November-December shipments, while another one has been keeping nominal offers at $537/mt FOB for rebar and $541/mt FOB for wire rod, but for December-January cargoes.
The latest ex-Russia wire rod offers have been reported at $520-530/mt FOB or around $540-545/mt CFR Turkey. In Israel, however, there is also no fresh offer, given the geopolitical tensions. Similar trends are also observed in the Lebanese market. However, some sellers underline that currently Russian mills are not so interested in selling, due to the seven percent export tax and currently sufficient demand in the domestic market. “For now, ex-Russia rebar will be absent from export, and it is due to the local market being quite high and the effect of the export duty on the market activities,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
