Having started to rise last week and maintaining their uptrend into the current week thanks to the deals to North Africa and strong scrap price levels, rebar prices in the local Turkish market have this week gone up by approximately TRY 50/mt. As of today, Friday, January 9, the rebar price level in the local Turkish market is at TRY 900/mt ex-works including VAT ($489/mt excluding VAT). End-user demand in the local market is still sluggish due to the cold weather conditions and the global economic uncertainty.
Turkish export rebar offers have increased this week. Prices were at $470-490/mt FOB Turkey towards the end of last week, while they have this week been at $520/mt FOB Turkey. Additionally, it is heard that there have been some deals at the price level of $505/mt FOB. If the scrap prices continue to rise, it is expected that the Turkish producers' rebar offer prices will increase in both local and export markets. While the gradual increase in the Turkish rebar prices is helping to restore confidence levels in the market, it is observed that the local traders in Turkey are increasing the amounts of their purchases.
Rebar prices in the Middle East have been stable this week in countries such as Syria ($540/mt), Saudi Arabia ($500-568/mt), Yemen ($490-530/mt) and the UAE ($500-520/mt). Also, the export offers of the Turkish producers have almost reached the same price levels seen in those countries' local markets. This may cause prices in these countries to enter an uptrend for the first time in several weeks.
With most of Europe now having returned from holiday, Russia's decision to cut natural gas supplies has come as a shock to the Europeans, and Bulgaria, Austria and Ukraine have started to search for alternative energy sources. However, these countries are not expected to to able to solve their energy difficulties within a short time; in this context, it is now a hot topic of discussion among market players how far the cost of rebar production will rise in the countries in question. While all Europe will have returned from the holidays as of Monday, January 12, given the changing market conditions, it is expected that market players in the region will monitor the market direction for a while before deciding to act.