<span>Trading in the UAE long steel market stays slack. Construction activity is still low, so local trading companies, which have enough material in stock, prefer to fill them occasionally. Thus, rebar producers have cut prices for May output to force foreign suppliers out of the market. However, new construction projects are to be announced in May, which will stimulate demand in the short term in case the political situation permits. <br> In particular, last week Emirates Steel Industries announced a decrease in prices for May production of rebar by $35-46/t (AED 130-170/t) compared to mid-April levels. The exchange rate is $1 = AED 3.67. Qatar Steel has lowered rebar prices by $27/t in the same period, which is still by $8-19/t (AED 30-70/t) higher than ESI level. At the same time Conares Metal Supply has redirected the whole amount of finished steel to the export market (Saudi Arabia and Iraq in particular) due to poor demand within the country, having pushed quotations down by $17-23/t in two weeks. <br> Turkish rebar has gained $20/t over the period under review and is priced by $12-19/t higher than the material from ESI. Ukrainian billet has added $20-25/t in the same period, which is $23/t lower than quotations of domestic rebar. As a result, Emirates Steel Industries is expected to revise its offers upwards soon. <br> Traders are not willing to back down easily, trimming only $7-14/t (AED 25-50/t) from domestic rebar quotations in two weeks. At the same time traders' prices for Turkish material have stayed unchanged; thus, they correspond to mills’ quotations. <br> ( Source: <a href="http://www.metalexpert-group.com/"><span><u><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">www.metalexpert-group.com</font></u></span></a> <span> </span>)</span>