The ongoing political turmoil in the
Middle East as well as the outbreak of war in
Libya have caused trade activity to nearly grind to a halt in these regions, which are key export markets for Turkish
rebar mills. In addition, with the further spread of the political upheaval to other countries in the region, the regional
rebar trade has contracted further.
This week, end-users'
rebar booking activity has been slower than expected. During the current week, the depreciation of the
US dollar has caused local
rebar prices in
Turkey to regress, leading to a further slowdown in
rebar transactions. Towards the end of the current week, domestic
rebar prices in
Turkey have settled at TRY 1,017-1,051/mt + VAT. Nevertheless, since there is not any oversupply in the market, prices are not expected to drop further. Next week,
rebar transactions are foreseen to increase since VAT repayments are made in the last week of the month. However, the future trend in the Turkish domestic market is still shrouded in uncertainty.
This week, Turkish mills'
rebar export offers have been standing at $670-675/mt FOB on actual weight basis, while some producers who previously concluded transactions and those who are carrying out maintenance works have not given so many offers.
Turkish mills'
rebar offers to the
US market have been at $695/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis this week. On the other hand, following the slowdown in Iraqi
rebar transactions,
rebar sales from
Turkey's Iskenderun region have also decreased in number. This week,
rebar offers given to the Iraqi market by Turkish rolling mills and steel producers have been at $665-670/mt ex-works.
This week, Turkish mills have not been active in the scrap market, making it difficult to predict the price trend of the market in question. Next week, the Turkish
rebar market is expected to move in line with the developments in
Turkey's export markets.