Turkish wire rod producers seek to keep export offers firm to maintain margins

In this week's Turkish wire rod market, final product manufacturers have started to look for alternative supply channels other than Turkish wire rod producers. Among the reasons for final product manufacturers' search for new supply sources, the wire rod supply shortage in Turkey's Marmara region comes first. Besides, the ongoing strength of ex-southern European wire rod export offers has also been a contributing factor. For example, while ex-Spain mesh quality wire rod offers stand at €530-540/mt ($747-762/mt) FOB, this price level does not seem attractive to Turkish buyers, considering the freight rates and lead times involved.
 
The recent weak rebar demand in Turkey has led rolling mills to focus more on wire rod production. On the other hand, given the limited domestic wire rod demand, Turkish mills have headed to the export markets, trying to keep their offers firm in order to maintain their margins. Last week, ex-Turkey mesh quality wire rod export offers were standing at $705-715/mt FOB. Meanwhile, this week SteelOrbis has learned that offers given for the same grade material to the Italian market are at $730-740/mt CFR. Given that domestic mesh quality wire rod prices are at €530-540/mt ($747-762/mt) in Italy, market players are now looking forward to seeing Italian buyers' reaction to the Turkish offers. Nevertheless, due to the strong trend seen in the Italian wire rod market, it is thought that Italian buyers may show interest in these offers.
 
Recently, Sri Lanka has also emerged as a key wire rod export market for Turkish mills. Due to the New Tamil Year holiday beginning from April 12 and lasting for most of April, possible wire rod transactions to this country would be for May shipments or for arrivals in May.
 
On the other hand, in the Dubai market, most buyers are now only purchasing wire rod in order to meet their needs, since they have already increased their inventory levels with previously concluded bookings. This week, Turkish mesh quality wire rod offers to Dubai stand at $730-735/mt CFR for late April and May shipments. However, buyers have so far been showing reluctance towards these offers.
 
As regards Turkey's final product (steel mesh, wire, nail) market, due to the acceleration of construction projects in Turkey's central Anatolian region with the approach of the general elections, demand is foreseen to improve. In the meantime, Iran still remains a key export market for Turkish final product suppliers.