Turkish rebar export prices fall further amid negative sentiment

Turkish rebar offers to the export markets are closing the week on a downward trend, just like last week. Ex-Turkey rebar prices have declined by $10/mt on the lower end and by $30/mt on the upper end week on week to $465-480/mt FOB. Buyers in Turkey's target markets believe that the downward movement of rebar quotations has not come to an end yet and so demand for Turkish rebar in the export markets has remained at low levels over the past week.
 
Turkish rebar offers to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have decreased by $45/mt compared to the price levels recorded two weeks ago to $475/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis. However, buyers in the UAE believe they still have time to complete their purchases for July. As a result, they are continuing to postpone their purchases of Turkish rebar as they wait for prices to fall further.
 
Meanwhile, Turkish rebar offers to Egypt are heard to be at $485/mt CFR on actual weight basis. However, Egyptian buyers continue to focus on purchasing locally produced rebar since foreign exchange availability is still a problem in Egypt. On the other hand, Egypt-based steelmaker EZDK Steel has revised its rebar prices for May production, reducing them by EGP 475/mt ($53/mt) as compared to prices announced on April 28 to EGP 5,400/mt ($608/mt) ex-works including eight percent VAT, amid the declines seen in Turkish rebar offers which were at $520-530/mt CFR at the beginning of May, and also due to the downward movement recorded in global billet quotations. Other Egyptian steel producers are expected to follow EZDK's example in the coming days.
 
As buyers in Turkish producers' target markets, especially US-based buyers, are expecting ex-Turkey rebar prices to decline further, they are exerting pressure on Turkish producers and continue to postpone their purchases. Under these circumstances, Turkish rebar producers, who are currently facing weak demand conditions in their domestic market, are expected to reduce their rebar quotations further in the short term in order to improve their sales.