Emirates Steel Arkan (ESA), the UAE's largest steel producer and market leader, has published domestic wire rod prices for April production. Although trade has remained at good levels in the domestic market, ESA has chosen to lower pricing in response to increased competition, particularly from China.
“The decrease has not been caused by the demand segment, but rather by competition in the market since suppliers other than local producers are offering material at lower levels around $590/mt CFR,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
Accordingly, current offers for wire rod produced by ESA to the domestic market are at $610/mt ex-works (AED 2,240/mt), for April production, whereas the previous official levels were at $650/mt ex-works (AED 2,387/mt) delivered to Dubai.
While other local wire rod producers such as Qatar Steel FZE and United Steel Industries in the UAE have not yet announced their offers, they are expected to follow the same trend as ESA in the coming days.
$1 = AED 3.672