CIS export market for longs has seen bearish sentiments by mid-September and trading activity has dropped to zero. Early this month buying activity in Iraq and West Africa improved somewhat. However, CIS material has become less competitive, as devaluation of euro started at the end of last week. Thus, buyers have ceased purchasing it and switched to wait-and-see mode, while some of them have started showing interest in European longs. And only in the Far East suppliers have managed to strengthen their positions a bit amid limited availability of Russian material.
Market players report rebar and wire rod are currently offered from Southern Europe at EUR 515-520/t ($710-718/t, EUR 1 = $1.38) FOB and EUR 525-535/t ($724-738/t) FOB respectively. Besides, at the beginning of the week European wire rod was purchased at EUR 520-525/t ($712-719/t, EUR 1 = $1.37) FOB, $40/t below the levels Ukrainian producers quote. Moreover, Turkish exporters have become more flexible this week, dropping wire rod offers by $5-10/t.
However, most CIS suppliers stand firm and expect the situation to stabilize soon. Only Belarus SW has been forced to cut prices, as expected. The supplier has already sold most of its October rebar to be shipped before November 20 at $700-710/t FOB Odessa EXW, 100% pre-paid, although initially (on September 5) the prices were set at $715/t FOB. Furthermore, the remainder of the material is reportedly available at $695/t FOB at the moment.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has left its prices for rebar and wire rod unchanged w-o-w. The seller will probably have to cut its quotations by $15-20/t in view of extremely slack demand for rebar abroad and current offers from Turkey ($725-735/t FOB).
At the same time, Metinvest International S.A. has started offering October rolling of wire rod from Makeyevka SW this week at prices by $10-15/t higher than the levels of last deals for September output. However, no deals have been signed yet. Traders believe that only the level no higher than $745/t FOB may be workable now.
Moldova SW has also started to offer October rolling of wire rod this week, having raised the bottom end of its price range by $5/t.
Meanwhile, demand for longs in SE Asia is still satisfactory. EvrazHolding has almost closed November order book for wire rod, and the most recent deals have been done at about $740-745/t C&F (about $720-725/t FOB), by $5/t higher than in the first half of September.
Besides, in the segment of structurals, offers of 100-140 mm channel of S235JR grade from EVRAZ-Petrovsky are reported at $730-735/t FOB October rolling, up $10-15/t from end-August.
( Source: www.metalexpert-group.com )