According to market sources, despite weak global demand Turkish steelmakers have been trying to keep their rebar export offers at levels of $575-585/mt FOB since last week. Turkish producers do not have room to cut their rebar export offers as import scrap prices have not recorded any significant declines. Meanwhile, the ongoing conflict in Iraq has hit the volume of Turkish rebar sales to the country, while the latest Turkish rebar deal to Iraq was concluded for approximately 30,000 mt at $575/mt ex-works in late August from the Iskenderun region.
On the other hand, the demand recovery seen in the Egyptian market in previous weeks has disappeared by the current week. Egyptian buyers' asking prices are quite lower than current import offers, driving buyers to adopt a wait-and-see stance. In the meantime, political turbulence in Yemen has hit interest in steel in the country, bringing demand for imported rebar to a halt. On the bright side, demand for Turkish rebar has increased in West Africa, where some ex-Turkey rebar bookings have been concluded at $570-575/mt FOB.
Turkish steelmakers have had to find alternative ways to continue their finished steel production, as current scrap prices are on the high side and as it is not known when Ukrainian producer Metinvest will again start to supply billet to the international markets. Having failed to achieve their asking prices for import scrap offers, Turkish mills have started to evaluate attractive Chinese billet offers to compensate for the negative conditions on the export side and to try to provide relief for their profit margins, which are pretty tight. These attractive billet offers, which are being evaluated by Turkish mills, may impact ex-Turkey rebar offers too, as sources report.