A Turkish mill has recently sold a rebar lot for December shipment to the United States after a rather long break in business activity to this destination. SteelOrbis has learned that a Marmara-based mill has sold 12,000 mt of rebar this week to be shipped to Florida at $580-585/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis, duty paid. The producer is expected to try to top up the cargo with some orders; however, sales from Turkey to the US remain challenging.
Firstly, the political tensions between the US and Turkey cause market players to expect a worsening of the trade environment to happen any time, which could lead to significant losses. Secondly, imports in the US from the EU continue. According to sources, the latest workable prices for the south of Europe were at $570-575/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis, duty paid. In addition, in the Houston area pressure is exerted by the cheap Mexican rebar coming in small lots via inland transportation. Another factor is that local mills in the US, as sources say, are not increasing rebar prices much despite the positive scrap price trend, thus putting pressure on the import side.
Although the fact of the sale from Turkey to the US is positive and some further cooperation is possible, market players do not expect a significant increase of trade to the destination. Over the past few months, Turkey has delivered only around 30,000 mt of rebar to the US, while one 11,000 mt sale, done in September, was cancelled amid Trump’s threat to double the safeguard duty, SteelOrbis understands.