Turkish mills have upper hand in UK rebar market

According to market insiders, demand for rebar in the local UK market is low since buyers' stocks are on the high side at the moment after the conclusion of plenty of import deals in February, while domestic rebar prices in the UK are currently standing at the level of £380/mt ($635/mt) delivered. Some ex-Turkey transactions have been concluded in the UK for about 60,000 mt of rebar in total at $550/mt FOB ($610/mt CFR) for shipments in March. Meanwhile, during the recent period Chinese rebar deals have been concluded in the UK at $560/mt CFR.
 
Against the backdrop of increases in import scrap prices, Turkish producers' new rebar offers to the UK have reached $565/mt FOB ($625/mt CFR), moving up by $15/mt over the past month. In the meantime, Chinese rebar offers for the same destination have weakened by $20-30/mt week on week amid softer iron ore prices and are now being quoted at $530-540/mt CFR. Despite sharp declines in Chinese rebar offers, Turkish mills have the upper hand in the UK import rebar market thanks to their shorter lead times.
 
£1 = $1.67