The Iranian I-beam market has continued in general its falling trend in the last two weeks due to weak demand. 140-180 mm I-beam sizes are currently changing hands at $657-666/mt ex-stock Tehran for immediate delivery and cash payment, down from $674-690/mt ex-stock Tehran two weeks ago. Meanwhile, higher I-beam sizes (200-270 mm) are currently in a price range of $800-950/mt ex-stock Tehran, representing a price increase of about $13-25/mt compared with two weeks ago.
On November 11, Iranian state-owned producer Esfahan Steel failed to sell a batch of 200-240 mm I-beam at $790/mt ex-works via the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME), as buyers did not bid higher than $700/mt. Previously, on November 8, Esfahan Steel had sold several batches of 140-270 mm I-beam via the IME at $630/mt ex-works with 73-day delivery.
Russian 80-140 mm U-beams are at present standing at $630-650/mt ex-stock Tehran, which is the same level as two weeks ago. Turkish U-beam costs about $30-40/mt more than U-beam from the CIS due to its higher quality. The Iranian U-beam market is mainly dominated by imported material, especially from the CIS, China and Turkey, as there is no significant production of U-beam by local Iranian mills.
The angles market in Iran has been indicating price decreases in recent weeks. 30 x 30 mm to 120 x 120 mm angle sizes are currently in a price range of $535-610/mt ex-stock Tehran, compared to $650-660/mt the week before and $580-640/mt two weeks ago. Just like the local merchant bar market in general, the Iranian market for angles has been characterized by a certain degree of stagnation, with weak demand resulting in a significant reduction in the transaction volume in recent weeks. Some traders are even expecting further price reductions in the coming weeks due to the downtrend of billet prices in the global markets. Iranian rolling mills producing angles depend mainly on imported billet and, consequently, the global price of billet has a direct impact on their production costs.