On the first week of August, the number of export offers of long products from the CIS has increased. So, Belarus SW and Metinvest International S. A. have announced their September prices, while ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has been selling its September output starting from last week. In the Middle East, buying has somewhat declined due to the beginning of Ramadan. In particular, demand for CIS material is still seen mostly in Lebanon, while in Iraq purchases will probably be resumed only in late August. Besides, buyers from Southern and Eastern Europe are also interested in the material.
As a result, despite the signs of a drop in long product quotations in the Turkish market, suppliers from the CIS are rather optimistic and keep pushing for higher prices for their September production.
In particular, Belarus SW has come to the market early this month offering its September rebar rolling at $720/t FOB Black Sea, which is by $25/t higher than traded levels three weeks ago. However, several days later the supplier has slightly cut offers to $715/t FOB Black Sea. Nevertheless, this level is unacceptable to traders since the material will be shipped by October 20 with 100% pre-payment. Market players say buyers are ready to purchase the material at $700/ FOB Black Sea. At the same time, most of rebar to be produced in September (some 50,000 t) will be sold in the Russian market, where the situation is rather favourable. In this case, the supplier may try to keep prices unchanged, citing limited supply.
Metinvest International SA has raised offers for wire rod from Makeyevka SW and Moldova SW by $5-10/t in the past two weeks and already managed to sell 5,000 t of the material at new levels.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is still offering its September material, having left prices for rebar and wire rod practically unchanged over the past week.
( Source: www.metalexpert-group.com )