According to market sources, mesh quality wire rod offers from Turkey to the export markets have remained unchanged over the past week in the range of $595-610/mt FOB.
With Chinese wire rod offers found to be more attractive in the Middle East, it is more difficult for Turkish wire rod producers to compete and demand for Turkish wire rod in the region has weakened. Meanwhile, demand is quiet in the US market, which has recently been the main export market for Turkish wire rod. Local wire rod prices in the US market are in the range of $717-739/mt ex-works and are considered to be more attractive than ex-Turkey wire rod offers. Market sources report that the slackness of demand in the export markets is just temporary and that US buyers are expected to accelerate their purchases from Turkey in the coming days.
On September 3, the US Department of Commerce (US DOC) announced preliminary duties of up to 110 percent on imports of carbon and alloy steel wire rod from China. This has provided some relief for Turkish wire rod producers, which had been finding it difficult to compete against the Chinese products. These preliminary duties have created a perception in the Turkish market that Turkish producers will gain something like a monopoly on the wire rod import trade in the US market. The DOC is expected to announce its final decision in relation to the case by November 12.