Turkish mills are attempting to reflect costlier import scrap prices in their longs export offers, while international demand does not seem to be ready to accept higher quotations. In addition, Turkish domestic rebar demand is also sluggish ahead of Ramadan and given the snowy weather conditions which affect daily construction activity. Sources report inquiries are received mainly from the Balkan region, specifically from Romania and Bulgaria, while the quota is an issue in the EU. Some orders have also been received from Chile and Jamaica.
Turkish rebar export offers have remained at $565-570/mt for late March and April shipments. A few suppliers were testing $575/mt FOB last week. However, the workable rebar price seems to be closer to $560-565/mt and even $555/mt FOB under the current market conditions. However, when the import scrap price level is taken into account at around $355-360/mt CFR Turkey for HMS I/II 80:20 grade, the offers should normally be at $575-580/mt FOB for rebar. Moreover, the market expects an increase in energy tariffs at the end of March or in early April. However, the mentioned levels are not workable for exports currently.
An inquiry for 10,000 mt of rebar, according to sources, is on the table from Jamaica with a target price of $555-560/mt FOB. In nearby export markets, demand seems rather slow, also considering the quite competitive prices available from North Africa. In particular, Egypt is offering at $550-555/mt and $555-560/mt FOB for rebar and wire rod, respectively, while one of the Algerian mills is in the market with $545-547/mt and $535/mt FOB respectively for the mentioned products. In addition, another Algerian mill is also offering both products at $565/mt FOB.
In the local Turkish rebar market, official offers and workable prices have settled at $560-580/mt ex-works, unchanged over the past week, and at $550-565/mt ex-works, also stable over the same period (in the Marmara and Izmir regions), respectively. Moreover, Kardemir today succeeded in selling around 40,000 mt of rebar at $548/mt ex-works. In addition, an Iskenderun-based Turkish mill has set its official rebar price today at TRY 24,000/mt ($551/mt) ex-works with an exchange rate of $1 = TRY 36.30, for an extended delivery period, down by TRY 300/mt ($10/mt) week on week.
In the wire rod segment, most Turkish mills are still offering at $570-580/mt FOB, for late March-April shipments, unchanged over the past week. In addition, the workable Turkish domestic wire rod prices vary at $555-575/mt, down $5/mt over the past week.