After increasing their rebar prices, Turkish mills have also raised their mesh grade wire rod export offers by $12.5/mt week on week to $510-520/mt FOB. Similar to rebar, Turkish mills are continuing their negotiations with US buyers for wire rod sales. However, no new wire rod sale from Turkey to the US has been reported up to today, May 24. While some Turkish steelmakers are giving wire rod export offers in the range of $520-530/mt FOB due to their fairly full production program, this range is not considered to be acceptable for now.
Turkish mills are expected to increase their wire rod export offers further if US buyers conclude wire rod purchases from Turkey. In the meantime, Turkish mills are still receiving price inquiries from their current export markets such as South America, Africa, Israel and Yemen. Leaving aside the US market, it does not seem easy for Turkish mills to conclude sales to these other markets at levels of $520/mt FOB and higher. Additionally, SteelOrbis has been informed that there were wire rod offers from Turkey to Israel at the beginning of the current week at $540/mt CIF LO for late June shipments.