Emirates Business 24/7 reported that steel prices in the UAE fell further to between AED 2,400 per tonne and AED 2,500 per tonne in the first week of June from the highs of AED 3,000 per tonne in April.
Industry sources said that however, they are still above the low range of between AED 1,950 per tonne and AED 2,250 per tonne around mid March.
Mr Ajay Aggarwal CEO RAK Steel said that prices have been volatile and I wish anyone could forecast what will happen. It will take some time for the market to get used to the new methods of pricing in iron ore. It is very difficult to say where market will head. Current prices for rebar stand at AED 2,500.
Mr Rizwan Sajan chairman of Danube Group said that import prices have come down to AED 2,400 and the scrap prices are dropping since the past 4 weeks. If people are successful in raising iron ore prices, then the market will turn around in terms of steel prices and scrap prices will also go up in tandem. Since Turkish steel goes the scrap route instead of the iron ore route, their prices have come down from AED 2,700 to AED 2,400.
Mr Sasikumar Moorkanat GM Union Steel Mills said that meanwhile, Turkey does not have a high internal rate of consumption and so are forced to export. Due to a low cost of production in Turkey, they can sell at low price. He said that on the international front, iron ore prices went up and came down since China is in a position to protect the prices. In this market, very little steel is made from iron ore and so many look at scrap prices instead.