The Turkish domestic wire rod market has followed a sideways trend this week, after last week's price increase. Although, supply shortages of some smaller size rebars have prevailed to some extent, a certain relief is observed. In addition to this, with the $/TRY exchange rate hitting 1.67, wire rod prices in Turkey have softened in US dollar basis.
Since final product (steel mesh, wire) sales have failed to reach to desired levels despite summer season, final product manufacturers are cautious in their approach to new wire rod bookings. Moreover, the approach of Ramadan also contributes to the reduction of orders.
Following wire rod price hikes in the local Turkish market, Turkish buyers have began assessing import offers. Ex-CIS low carbon wire rod offers to Turkey stand at $770-775/mt CFR. On the other hand, export offers given from Italy for medium carbon (C45) wire rod are at €540-545/mt (772-779$/mt) FOB and mesh quality wire rod offers are at €520-525/mt ($744-751/mt) FOB, all on actual weight basis. In the meantime, mesh quality wire rod sales prices in the local Italian market are reportedly at the same level as export offers for actual buyers.
This week, Turkey's mesh quality wire rod offers have remained at $750-760/mt FOB. However, Middle Eastern buyers are not inclined to making purchases at this price level.
In the Vietnamese market, despite slack demand, traders seek to persuade buyers for price increases. But, aggressive Chinese offers reduce the likeliness of buyers' acceptance of price increases.
In India, wire rod demand has remained tepid due to monsoon rainfalls. While ex-CIS and Turkey low carbon wire rod offers to India are close to each other ($785-795/mt CFR), Indian buyers are not interested in these offers for the time being.
While Latin America, along with West and Central Africa continue to be Turkey's important wire rod markets, Middle Eastern and Turkish buyers are expected to show interest to offers with delivery time spanning to September, after Ramadan.