Turkey’s merchant bar export prices down $10/mt

Turkey’s merchant bar export prices have moved down by $10/mt since early January. Moreover, some offers are reportedly at $515/mt FOB for equal angles, but they are not considered workable. Players are closely watching scrap market developments, as a new price decrease would result in another weakening of merchant bar offers.

As of January 16, Turkey utilized around 73.5 percent of its merchant bar quota in the EU and the remaining quantity is around 26.5 percent, i.e., 76,989 mt out of 295,303 mt. Moreover, in terms of big-size beams (80 mm and above), around 83 percent of the quota has been used with only 16,840 mt remaining. European buyers are active for new merchant bar purchases in order to restock before the quota reaches the 90 percent utilization rate, which is considered to be a risky point.

Inquiries have been reportedly coming from Europe, North Africa and Latin America this week. SteelOrbis has heard that around 10,000-11,000 mt of ex-Turkey merchant bar have been sold to North Africa at $480-485/mt FOB for March shipment this week.

Turkish merchant bar export prices are currently at the following levels:

All prices are on FOB basis and for late February and March shipment.