Last week the Turkish merchant bar market was characterized by fluctuating prices on the domestic front; however, on the export side, merchant bar prices have not shown much alteration in spite the increasing raw material and billet prices.
Last week, when we entered the first week of January, it was possible to hear various price levels in the Turkish domestic market. Prices, which had switched to an increasing course and were in the range of TRY 770-800/mt ($504-523/mt) at the beginning of last week, later decreased to a price level of TRY 740/mt ($484/mt) after some mills had lowered their prices on December 30, 2008. These price reductions were said to be due to the efforts of mills to use up their inventories by the end of the year and also due to the gradual increase in the intensity of competition. Meanwhile, on Friday, January 2, 2009, some mills decided to switch their prices onto a rising trend again, back up to the levels seen at the beginning of last week. However, it is observed that these price fluctuations seen in the domestic market have not resulted in any increase in demand levels. Firms have been focusing their attention on the issue of payment collection. At the end of last week, merchant bar prices in the Turkish domestic market stood in the range of TRY 740-800/mt ($484-523/mt).
On the export side, some mills who have a better position than in the domestic market have increased their offer levels by $10/mt based on the increasing raw material and billet prices. Nevertheless, a variety of export offers has been heard. Accordingly, as of the first week of 2009, Turkish mills' offers to the export markets stood at $510-520/mt FOB for angles, for NPI and NPU they stood at $520-530/mt FOB, for 80-100-120 mm IPE offers were in a range of $550-560/mt FOB, for 80-100-120 IPE A offers were at $560-570/mt FOB, 80-100-120 IPE AA stood at levels of $570-580/mt FOB, while flat bar offers stood at $510-520/mt FOB. The prices in question are on actual weight basis and for January shipment. Meanwhile, North Africa, the USA and the Middle East have continued to be the target markets of the Turkish mills. Of these three regions, most of the demand has continued to come from North Africa. It is expected that, with the conclusion of the holiday period, the Turkish mills will be in competition with the southern European mills in the markets to which the Turkish mills are actively exporting.
After a brilliant initial six months of 2008, the iron and steel markets (including the merchant bar market) registered strong declining trends and closed the year on a negative note. However, the Turkish mills expect this negative environment to change in 2009. Nevertheless, firms feeling the effects of global crisis will certainly move with greater caution in this new period of change and development.