For the third consecutive week, Turkish steel producers have continued to focus on their domestic rebar market instead of on exports due to livelier demand in Turkey. Due to the tight supply, Turkish steel mills' domestic rebar prices are higher than their export offers, while buyers, who had been postponing their purchases for a long time, have accepted the new price levels.
On the other hand, buyers in the international markets consider current Turkish rebar export offers to be on the high side. Turkish steel mills' rebar export offers have remained unchanged over the past week at $435-465/mt FOB on actual weight basis. As a result, demand for Turkish rebar in the export markets is at low levels.
Turkish steelmakers' rebar sales to markets such as Romania, Bulgaria, Israel and Africa, where they usually sell smaller tonnages, have been at $430-435/mt FOB on actual weight basis, while buyers mostly consider this range to be on the high side and are in no rush to conclude new deals for Turkish rebar.
The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has this week announced its final determinations in the antidumping (AD) duty investigation of rebar imports from Turkey. The final AD margins stand at 5.39 percent for Habas, 8.17 percent for Icdas and at 6.94 percent for all other Turkish companies. The preliminary margins announced in March did not cause Turkish steel mills to leave the US market. With the final margins announced not being very different from the preliminary margins, Turkish steelmakers' concerns in relation to this AD investigation have ended. However, it is reported that Turkish steel producers' primary concern now is the Section 232 investigation of which the scope and the likely result remain unknown, and so they prefer not to give any rebar offers to the US. The latest Turkish rebar offers in the US were heard last week at $490-5000/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis including the preliminary AD margins.
Last week, traders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had reduced their rebar prices following the declines seen in local steel producers' quotations for May output. In the current week, rebar demand in the UAE has declined compared to previous weeks due to the approach of Ramadan and this has exerted negative pressure on domestic rebar prices in the country. Considering the production costs of Turkish steel mills, it is believed that they are unable to reduce their rebar offer to the levels given by UAE-based steel producers. Market sources report that, with no demand for Turkish rebar in the UAE, Turkish steelmakers have not determined any new price strategy for this destination.
Rebar demand in Egypt has recently increased due to the acceleration of construction activities, which has also boosted demand for Turkish rebar in the country. However, market sources report that Egyptian buyers' firm bids for Turkish rebar are now lower than $430/mt CFR on actual weight basis, while Turkish steel mills prefer not to give any offers to Egypt either as they are still focusing on their domestic market.