It is observed that demand received by Turkish rebar suppliers from the international markets has been at low levels in the current week. Although import scrap quotations in Turkey have remained stable this week after their previous long-standing upward trend, Turkish rebar suppliers have raised their export offers by an average of $15/mt week on week to $505-515/mt FOB.
However, foreign buyers - citing the sideways movement of scrap quotations - say that they fail to understand Turkish mills’ decision to raise their rebar export offers further, while they have been exerting downward pressure on prices as they consider the current price levels to be on the high side.
As the 50 percent import duty on steel imports from Turkey remains in effect in the US - the most important rebar export market for Turkey, the quota of 117,231 tons imposed by the European Union on Turkish rebar as of February 2 for 150 days has already been used before mid-February. While Turkish mills are experiencing difficult times in their main export markets, they are also facing downward pressure in the other export markets to which they usually conclude sales of small tonnages, such as Africa, South America, Israel and Yemen.
Chinese sellers have tested their domestic markets with various price policies after returning from the Chinese New Year holiday at the beginning of the current week. On the other hand, the trend of steel prices in China is still unclear since purchases have not recommenced yet. Buyers in the international markets as well as competitors in China’s target markets, including Turkey, are waiting to see China’s future price strategy.