Export demand for Turkish longs has started strengthening gradually. Deal prices for import scrap moving up and buying activity increasing in the local market, exporters keep pushing their prices up. As a result, overseas buyers have resumed purchases apprehending a further price growth.
Turkish exporters feel more optimistic now expecting demand to go on rising. Next week, they intend to stabilize quotations at new levels or even add $5-10/t.
In particular, a general price range for rebar has grown by $5-10/t over the week, to $660-670/t FOB. At the same time, foreign buyers are mainly offered with $665-670/t FOB. Mills have been largely offering for January output, while some steelmakers have made first offers of February rolling.
Iraqi buyers have reportedly raised purchases. After a $15-20/t hike in rebar offers, to $670-675/t EXW, suppliers in Iskenderun have been trading at the bottom end of the range. Buyer activity is forecast to grow more significantly by mid-December and suppliers will try to drive prices up to $690/t EXW.
Having restocked on import rebar (about 50,000 t in total) at $620-625/t FOB ($640-645/t C&F, theoretical weight basis, freight rate is $40/t) with December delivery just two weeks ago, UAE''s consumers have been staying in a wait-and-see mode so far. Meanwhile, Turkish sellers have decided to increase quotations to the UAE to $650-660/t FOB ($10-15/t up from the start of December) only by the end of the week.
Small lots quoted at $665/t FOB have reportedly been booked by Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, a $5/t being still possible for large bookings. These are expected to boost purchases in future. Traders from North America have bought rebar at $655-660/t FOB ($680-685/t C&F, theoretical weight basis), January shipment. Besides, 2,000-3,000 t of rebar has been booked by West African consumers at $665/t FOB, Metal Expert was informed.
Quotations of mesh quality wire rod (January output) have gained $10-15/t over the same period, reaching $675-685/t FOB, but large lots can be bought even $5/t cheaper.
As for the segment of semi-finished products, Turkish suppliers have attempted to lift export prices referring to higher square billet quotations in the local market. Turkish billet is mainly quoted at $620-625/t FOB, while some producers (in particular in Iskenderun) are quoting as much as $630/t FOB. However, no contracts with foreign buyers have been recorded so far, since FOB quotations of CIS square billet are more attractive. Turkish sellers are offering square billet to Egyptian consumers at $620/t FOB, the latter insisting on not higher than $605/t FOB though. At the same time, billet from the CIS is rather attractive even for Turkish players, as traders’ offers are $600-615/t C&F (up $10/t to the upper end), which is $55-60/t less than Turkish export prices for rebar. Metal Expert has learnt about shipments of CIS semis of up to 5,000 t at $600/t C&F to the Marmara region. However, square billet imports are possible to rise
( Source: www.metalexpert-group.com )