Buying activity remains low in the Turkish domestic market for longs due to both unstable exchange rate and generally unfavourable economic situation. Although finished steel makers are trying hard to fix quotations given falling offers of square billet, they will probably make further cuts.
At the beginning of the week, Turkish rebar suppliers raised lira prices by TRY 10/t ($5/t) willing to ease the impact of weakening national currency, but the lira became stronger by the end of the week and steelmakers moved offers back to late September levels of TRY 1,530-1,570/t EXW. All prices in US dollar terms exclude 18% VAT, those in lira are VAT-inclusive. The exchange rate is $1 = TRY 1.85. Nevertheless, US dollar quotations have gone up by $4/t, to $701-719/t EXW.
Only wire rod quoted in the foreign currency has gained $4/t, reaching $728-747/t (TRY 1,590-1,630/t) EXW over the same period.
Domestic prices for square billet in Turkey have declined in a few steps by $30/t w-o-w, to $640-650/t EXW. Although suppliers are reportedly ready to close deals at $635/t EXW, buyers remain inactive expecting prices to drop to $620-630/t EXW soon. Notably, there are even higher semis offers in the market. In particular, Kardemir cut prices to $655-660/t EXW ($20/t down over the week) in the middle of the week, but still has difficulty selling the material, so further reductions may be made soon
(Source: www.metalexpert-group.com )