Weak international demand for Turkish rebar has been observed over the past week, while Turkish mills have maintained their aggressive price policies as they seek to attract a share of the limited international demand. Turkish rebar mills have reduced their export offers by $10/mt week on week to $470-480/mt FOB on actual weight basis, though the demand received from buyers has been at low levels despite the lower prices. Additionally, SteelOrbis has been informed by sources that a Turkish steel mill has concluded a rebar sale for a small tonnage to Israel over the past week at $477/mt FOB on actual weight basis.
In the given week, no progress has been made in relation to the 50 percent duty imposed in the US on steel imports from Turkey, and so no demand for Turkish rebar in the US has been heard. On the other hand, only 17.7 percent of the quota imposed by the European Commission (EC) on rebar imports remains unused. This may lead European buyers to stay away from import rebar deals for significant tonnages until the EC’s quotas are renewed in February 2019. Moreover, European buyers’ demand for Turkish rebar is not expected to increase in the short term given the approach of the Christmas holidays and their unwillingness to carry inventories over to next year. Meanwhile, Chinese exporters have more attractive rebar offers for Far East and Latin America due to their advantages in terms of freight and delivery terms, and so Turkish mills have received no demand from buyers in these regions.