Rebar prices in Turkey have continued trending up especially in the domestic market, based on solid import scrap prices and also the expected seasonal demand revival. Still, although local sales have been improving slowly, the price uptrend remains driven by costs rather than by demand. Longs export offers from Turkey have also increased, in line with the local market and also following the uptrend seen in indications from North Africa.
Locally, most Marmara-based mills are offering official rebar prices at $610-625/mt, versus $600-605/mt ex-works a week ago. In the Izmir region, the prices have increased from $585-590/mt to $605-607/mt ex-works over the same period. In the Iskenderun region, rebar producers are offering at $603-607/mt, up from $580-582/mt ex-works. The size of the increase in the Iskenderun region is higher than in the rest of the country as it is closer to Iran and war-related risks are evaluated as being higher. Integrated producer Kardemir opened its rebar sales at around $607/mt ex-works earlier today, April 1, while most buyers seem to be postponing their rebar purchases as they are not sure whether the positive trend in local rebar prices will continue in the longer term. Generally, although the workable price levels for rebar in Turkey have clearly improved, there do not seem to be many sales above $600-605/mt ex-works across Turkey.
In the export segment, rebar from Turkey is at $600-610/mt FOB in the official offers for April and early May shipments, up by $5-10/mt over the past week. A few inquiries are on the table from the Balkans and some European buyers seem to be in wait-and-see mode as the new quota round has already opened today and they need to evaluate quota availability depending on customs data.
In the wire rod segment, local Turkish official prices have settled at $605-620/mt depending on the region, also up by $5-10/mt week on week. The workable wire rod export prices are evaluated at $605-615/mt FOB, rising by $10/mt over the same period. Turkish mills are testing wire rod export offers at $610-620/mt FOB, up $10/mt from a week ago, for April and early May shipments.