<span>Amid rather poor demand Turkish longs exporters have reduced quotations of September production in order to stir foreign buyers. Dramatic devaluation of the Turkish lira has contributed to the decrease. Suppliers have left export quotations of semis unchanged, citing steadily high prices for CIS material. Market participants think discounts from rebar exporters will stir foreign customers in the second half of August, so exporters will try to push through an increase later. <br> Thus, export rebar prices have dropped several times by $15-20/t in a week, to $705-715/t FOB. Yet, only major producers can afford buying at this level, taking into account scrap is cheaper by $245/t. At the same time re-rollers insist on $720/t FOB, though in this case billet is priced only by $30/t lower. They still have enough billet in stock, but will have to make purchases soon and put purchase prices up respectively. <br> So far deals are rare, taking into account that prices have dropped only by the end of the week. Buyers from the UAE have signed contracts at $705/t FOB (3,000-5,000 t) actual weight ($720/t C&F theoretical weight). Yet, many of them have refrained from purchases, being unable to get $5-10/t discount, to $695-700/t FOB. Iraqi consumers have stayed away from deals so far, enquiring prices, which are $755-765/t EXW. Nevertheless, Turkish sellers believe they will start replenishing stocks in mid-August too, though Ukrainian material is available to them at lower prices. Syrian and Lebanese traders will probably start purchasing next week, since prices are rather acceptable to them. Market players report buyers from Eastern and Western Africa may become active, but no deals have been reported yet. <br> Wire rod prices have lost just $10 over the same period, falling to $730-740/t FOB. At the same time, demand for the material is mainly observed in South America and North-West Africa. In particular, deals for wire rod to Brazil have been closed at $730-735/t FOB. <br> As for the semis segment, Turkish exporters have decreased only the upper end of the price range for square billet by $5/t, to $690-700/t FOB. In particular, Metal Expert learns about a contract for a large lot of billet from Habas to Saudi Arabia at $700/t FOB. Egyptian mills have been buying Turkish square billet at the similar prices. At the same time, CIS suppliers maintain quotations and offer semis at $700-705/t C&F Marmara ($5/t up in a week), but these products attracts no Turkish customers since they are able to book the material at much lower prices in the domestic market. <br> (Source: <span class="MsoHyperlink"><span><a href="http://www.metalexpert-group.com/"><font color="#004477" size="3" face="Times New Roman">www.metalexpert-group.com</font></a> )</span></span></span>