Turkish long steel mills are going through challenging times and have switched their targeted export destinations mostly to eastern Europe, in particular Romania and Bulgaria, while the new EU quota period will begin on July 1 but most inquiries are for June shipment. In addition, there is one month left before the Eid of Sacrifice holiday (June 16-19), which will also limit possible Turkish domestic longs sales, causing a few mills to start their maintenance works during this sluggish demand period. Following the Eid of Sacrifice, the summer holiday period will begin especially in southern Europe, which will pose another challenge for possible export sales. All in all, most international buyers are exerting pressure for discounts, while Turkish mills are attempting to keep their export prices firm due to their energy costs.
Currently, ex-Turkey rebar offers are at $585-600/mt FOB for late May-June shipments, falling by $5/mt on the lower end. Last week, the sale of a small rebar lot to Latvia was done at $580/mt FOB and 10,000-12,000 mt was sold to Jamaica at $585/mt FOB. In addition, one top-up to a previous rebar sale to the Dominican Republic and the sale of another small lot of rebar to Yemen were also rumored at similar prices. However, the final prices were not confirmed by the time of publication. It is safe to say that levels of $580/mt and slightly lower seems much more workable under the current market conditions. A rebar sale to the US has also been rumored, while the seller has not confirmed the deal and no details regarding the deal have been released so far. In the Turkish domestic rebar market, although the general official rebar prices vary at $590-620/mt ex-works, including Icdas A.S.’s price, the workable rebar prices seem close to $585-605/mt ex-works for serious buyers. Moreover, Kardemir opened its rebar sales at TRY 19,665/mt ($610/mt) ex-works, with an exchange rate of $1 = TRY 32.25. No fresh rebar sale has been heard so far. Most buyers are making purchases just in line with their daily needs and are waiting for the Turkish Central Bank's interest rate decision on Thursday, May 23.
In the wire rod segment, ex-Turkey wire rod prices vary at $600-610/mt FOB for late May-June shipments, while a few mills are still offering slightly higher levels. A sale of a small tonnage of wire rod has been concluded to Bulgaria at $610-620/mt FOB depending on the size and grade, SteelOrbis has heard. In addition, most mills are still offering wire rod in the domestic market at $600-640/mt ex-works, while the lower end seems to be much more workable. Kardemir issued its 6-27 mm SAE 1008-1010 grade wire rod price at $605/mt ex-works yesterday, May 15.