As the month of October draws to a close, most buyers in the international
wire rod market are still delaying their purchases, as they are unable to predict when prices will reach the bottom. Due to economic difficulties in the
European Union, Turkish
wire rod suppliers' interest in West and Central Africa, as well as Latin America, prevails. In the meantime, since buyers in the Turkish domestic
wire rod market have been delaying their bookings for some time now, Turkish mills have focused more on the export markets.
Lately,
Chile,
Peru and
Colombia have stood out among Latin American markets, in terms of Turkish mills'
wire rod export sales volumes. However, competition between Turkish and European mills in these markets will likely be affected by the future trends in the exchange rate of the euro against the US dollar.
This week, Turkish steel producers
wire rod export offers stand at $675-685/mt FOB for shipments in November. Nevertheless, it should be noted that for real buyers there is room for bargaining and some companies have exclusive pricing policies, since international
wire rod buyers are taking their time deciding on whether to conclude new bookings.
In the meantime,
wire rod prices in the Bulgarian domestic market continue to soften in line with appreciation of the Bulgarian lev against the US dollar. In this week's Bulgarian domestic long steel market, stockists' mesh quality
wire rod prices have softened by BGN 10/mt ($7/mt) as compared to last week to BGN 1,050-1,060/mt ($762-769/mt) CPT on actual weight basis, exclusive of 20 percent VAT.
Wire rod demand in
Bulgaria is still quiet.