Turkish steel mills are still experiencing difficulties as regards international demand amid the recent proliferation of protectionist investigations and tariffs, having already lost dominance due to similar protectionist policies in some of their previous export markets where they used to conclude sales of large rebar tonnages. Having first refused to reduce their rebar export prices despite the weak demand, Turkish steel mills have now been forced to cut their rebar offers to both domestic and export markets following the decreases in import scrap quotations in Turkey. As a result, Turkish rebar producers’ export prices have fallen by an average of $10/mt week on week to $550-560/mt FOB on actual weight basis.
At the beginning of the current week, a rebar sale from Turkey to Israel was heard at $550/mt FOB on actual weight basis. However, the decrease in import scrap quotations became significant in the following days, making it difficult for buyers to accept the price level of $550/mt FOB and causing them to put pressure on Turkish rebar export prices.