At the start of a new month in the Turkish domestic market, a wait-and-see policy is seen to prevail on the demand side. Buyers have difficulties in determining the production costs of final products (steel mesh, wire), because of the frequent revision of prices in the domestic market.
Coming towards summer in the local market, a revival in final product (wire) sales to the agriculture and automotive sectors is noted. Meanwhile, some construction projects have been halted or have slowed down due to the variability of long product prices, and so no great activity has been seen on the construction sector side.
Looking at Turkey's wire rod exports, although buyers in Europe are adopting a wait-and-see approach, with the €/$ exchange rate fluctuating at around 1.23 and with Brent oil prices remaining at $74/bbl, buyers in the Middle East markets are still hesitating to conclude new purchases. As a result of the economic situation and weak local demand in Greece, Turkish wire rod offers to Greece are found to be on the high side. At the same time, negotiations for exports to the Romanian and US markets continue. Also, the export markets in Latin America continue to be important for Turkey.
In South Africa, with the construction of stadiums concluded prior to World Cup 2010 which starts next week, demand in the local market has become quiet.
As regards high carbon wire rod, due to the similar price ranges in the local Turkish market of the Turkish mills' attractive offers and of imported wire rod offers, given the long lead times coming towards the summer, local buyers are reluctant to conclude new purchases of imported materials.