Turkish longs producers seem temporarily comfortable nowadays, following rather sizeable rebar export sales, concluded to the European Union, mainly Romania, Bulgaria and overall, the Balkan region. In addition, in the domestic market the prices have been found quite attractive and some decent restocking has been seen. "Turkish mills' total longs product sales in both local and export markets were above 200,000 mt in the second half of April," a source told SteelOrbis. It is largely believed that the prices have indeed hit the bottom and with the anticipated scrap recovery, the market might be rebounding soon.
Currently, ex-Turkey rebar offers vary at $540-550/mt FOB for May shipments, stable week on week. Turkish rebar producers mainly focus on Balkan region as a few countries in the Balkan region are out of the European quota system. According to sources, around 70,000 mt of rebar were traded to Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Kosova at $530-545/mt FOB over the past two weeks. Some sources report the total of recent export rebar sales sums up to 100,000-120,000 mt. In addition, some wire rod was also sold at $550/mt FOB for the mixed cargoes to the abovementioned regions as well as to Belgium and Northern Europe. Moreover, slight demand recovery has been also mentioned in Turkmenistan for rebar sales to construction sites and small lots were sold at up to $550/mt ex-works. Previously, some of the buyers from Turkmenistan preferred material from Azerbaijan due to relatively advantageous highway freight rates compared to Turkey – around $50/mt versus $150/mt, respectively.
In the Turkish domestic rebar market, official offers have settled at $540-560/mt ex-works, stable week on week depending on the region. In the Izmir and Marmara regions, the workable levels are at $530-550/mt ex-works versus $535-545/mt ex-works a week ago. In addition, an Iskenderun-based mill has offered its rebar at around $550/mt ex-works, for an extended delivery period. According to sources, the latest workable rebar price in this region stands at around $540/mt ex-works.
In the wire rod segment, most Turkish mills have also kept their offers, stable at $550-560/mt FOB, for May shipment. In addition, workable Turkish domestic wire rod prices vary at $540-570/mt, $5/mt down on the lower end over the week.