Although there has not been a significant change in demand for imported rebar in the last week, sources tell SteelOrbis that traders are allowing for flexibility in their future order offers while trying to clear out inventory at the ports. The gap between future order and position prices is not that wide, but traders are also reportedly eager to get orders booked before the US ITC announces in November preliminary margins for the recent rebar trade case against Turkey, Japan and Taiwan. If the decision resembles the alleged dumping margins in the case filing (86.12 percent for Turkey, 206.17 percent for Japan and 104.30 percent for Taiwan), future order inquiry will virtually disappear.
As such, future order offers for Turkish rebar in particular (many sources are skeptical about the success of the case against Japan and Taiwan) are expected to remain flexible, with weekly downticks “very likely” in the near-term. This week, the general offer range for Turkish rebar has edged down by about $0.50 cwt. ($10/nt or $11/mt) to $18.50-$19.50 cwt. ($370-$390/nt or $408-$430/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.