This week there has not been much activity observed with regard to demand in the Turkish wire rod market. Changes in the $/TRY exchange rate have led producers to raise their wire rod sales prices slightly. Meanwhile, some end-users who are not sure about the future direction of the price trend have this week continued to purchase with caution.
On the mills' side, during the current week some producers have been inactive in terms of export bookings, whereas it is heard that others delivered orders to some local end-users with certain delays in order to ensure deliveries of previously-booked export orders. Some producers' export offers given for mesh quality wire rod have this week maintained their levels of $490-500/mt FOB Turkey.
Looking at the Spanish market this week, drawing (1006) quality wire rod offers given by some mills have remained unchanged at the level of €410-420/mt ($526-539/mt) for delivery to customer, excluding VAT. It is also heard that the inventory levels of some mills in Spain are quite high. Although demand has shown some activity, some end-users have continued to purchase the minimum quantities necessary to satisfy their needs.
In Dubai, another market which Turkish producers follow with interest, it is heard that stock levels have started to diminish. However, some end-users made purchases when prices were at quite high levels in this market and currently the end-users in question are still behaving circumspectly as regards imports.
It is also reported that last week a large tonnage wire rod booking was concluded from Ukraine to Dubai in a price range of $500-510/mt CFR Dubai for January shipment. With regard to demand, it is expected that purchases will show an increase in the middle term rather than in the short term. However, it should be taken into consideration that it is very unlikely we will again see the strong demand levels observed when prices were shooting up.
Meanwhile, since small tonnage finished steel orders have started to be heard, wire producers have begun to become hopeful. Although the European market has been sluggish this week, the market in the Middle East is more active in terms of orders. Especially with the recovery signals seen after the war in Israel, orders from this country to Turkey have accelerated.
Generally, it is observed that the mills and end-users focusing on high quality production have been more active compared to others. We await with interest the direction of export offers in the coming days.