Turkish mills are aiming to conclude fresh rebar sales within the EU quota for the first quarter of the year, especially to buyers in the Balkan region, in particular in Romania, Bulgaria and Albania. In the Turkish domestic rebar market, most buyers are taking their time before concluding new purchases due to the limited access to loans and the ongoing currency fluctuations following the interest rate cut in Turkey yesterday, January 23. In addition, a few mills have even closed their sales in the local rebar market due to the unclear situation in the import scrap segment.
Currently, ex-Turkey rebar prices vary at $550-560/mt FOB for February shipments, stable week on week. According to sources, some mills were even testing $545/mt FOB for serious buyers only earlier this week. A fresh rebar sale of around 10,000 mt is reported to have been done to Albania at $545/mt FOB, while a sale of a high rebar tonnage has also been rumored to Europe this week, most probably Romania at $555/mt FOB. "The fresh rebar prices are standing closer to $555-560/mt FOB as the week ends, following the recent upward trend in the import scrap segment. There were reports of rebar prices at $530-540/mt FOB earlier this week, but such a range is not workable under the current market conditions," a source told SteelOrbis.
In the Turkish domestic rebar market, the official rebar offers and workable rebar prices have respectively settled at $550-580/mt ex-works, down by $10/mt on the lower end, and at $545-555/mt ex-works, down by $10/mt in the Marmara and Izmir regions.
In the wire rod segment, most Turkish mills are offering at $560-570/mt FOB for February shipments, stable over the same period. In addition, the workable Turkish domestic wire rod prices vary at $555-565/mt ex-works, also down $10/mt week on week.
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