Turkish mills are attempting to offer relatively competitive longs prices to their domestic market, benefiting from the appreciation of the Turkish lira against the US dollar, while local demand does not seem to provide a balance with longs export sales amid the unclear financial situation in the country. Some local companies are even facing closure and bankruptcy due to the slow trading activity and ongoing currency fluctuations in the country. The new EU longs quota period will begin on July 1, while most mills have concluded their longs sales and overall sentiment on demand is poor this week.
Currently, ex-Turkey rebar prices for July-early August shipment vary at $580-585/mt FOB, stable over the past two weeks. Additional discounts are applicable for serious buyers only. In the local Turkish rebar market, Icdas A.S. has kept its offical rebar price stable at $620/mt ex-works, while the workable rebar prices in the Marmara and Izmir regions are available at $585-605/mt ex-works, also unchanged over the same period. A few mills are applying aggressive pricing policies to generate cash.
In the wire rod segment, most mills are quoting at $585-590/mt FOB for July-early August shipment, stable over the past two weeks, while a few mills are even testing the market at $595/mt FOB due to their production costs. However, this level seems a little difficult to achieve for now. In addition, official domestic wire rod prices vary at $595-640/mt, while the workable wire rod prices seem close to $590-620/mt ex-works. Most buyers are monitoring the import scrap price trend and are taking their time before concluding new purchases. Moreover, the Turkish central bank will announce its new interest rate decision tomorrow, Thursday, June 27.
.jpeg)