Turkish mills have raised their long steel export prices further, having seen a rapid scrap price increase and being quite confident that the upward trend will continue. Billet pricing has also been high and availability is certainly an issue, and this has been reflected in rebar export offers, even though there has not been any tremendous improvement in terms of demand. The general mood in the market is rather confusing as everyone is trying to understand the impact of Ukraine and Russia being absent from the market with their steel and raw materials.
Ex-Turkey rebar offers have started to range at $940-950/mt FOB for April-May shipment today, versus $890-900/mt FOB at the end of last week. Sources report that last week 10,000 mt of rebar were traded to Costa Rica and 20,000 mt of rebar were traded to Canada at $900/mt FOB on actual weight basis.
In the local Turkish market, most mills in the Marmara and Izmir regions are currently offering rebar at $900-925/mt ex-works, up $20-35/mt over the past week. A small-tonnage rebar lot has been traded at $925/mt ex-works in the Marmara region today.
In the wire rod segment, most export prices are available at $1,040-1,055/mt FOB, up $35-40/mt over the past week. Most mills are selling for May-June shipments. A lot of 5,000 mt of wire rod was traded to Haiti at $1,000/mt FOB last week, SteelOrbis has heard. In addition, another 27,000 mt of wire rod have been traded to South America at $1,050/mt FOB for May shipment.