It is observed that demand for Turkish rebar exports in the international markets has remained at low levels over the past week. In the same period, Turkish rebar producers have decreased their export prices by $5/mt on the upper end to $500-505/mt FOB on actual weight basis.
Market sources state that a Turkish rebar mill concluded an export sale to South America at the beginning of the current week at $510/mt FOB on actual weight basis. Meanwhile, although SteelOrbis has not received confirmation yet, it is heard that two different deals from Turkey to England have been concluded for cargoes consisting of 5,000 mt and 3,000 mt of rebar at $500/mt FOB and $495/mt FOB, respectively, both on actual weight basis.
On the other hand, Canada announced provisional safeguard measures on seven steel products on October 11. Beginning from October 25, 2018, imports of these seven steel products will be subject to a 25 percent duty, in cases where the level of imports from trading partners exceeds quotas and the provisional measures will be in place for a period of 200 days. Canada has announced that the total quota will be based on four separate periods, each lasting fifty days, and will be renewed for each period. For the first 50-day period, the import quota for rebar is 35,332 mt. Considering that Canada imported a total of 332,959 mt of rebar in the first five months of 2018, it is observed that the quotas are directing Canadian buyers towards their domestic market. According to market sources, there is no demand in Canada for Turkish rebar since the import quota is low.
Additionally, SteelOrbis has been informed that some market players are now expecting a reduction in the 50 percent tariff imposed by the US on rebar imports from Turkey to 25 percent after the statements made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Trump. Following his visit in Ankara, Pompeo stated, “Some of the sanctions that were put in place were directly connected to Pastor Brunson and there’s a logic to now removing those as well”. Also President Trump tweeted that “the relation between Turkey and the US is recovering”. Players in the Turkish rebar market are closely following developments in relation to this topic. Also, according to market sources, Turkish rebar producers may gain a price advantage and conclude sales to the US if the tariff is reduced back to 25 percent.