<span>Iraqi longs market is seeing high buying activity. The budget for 2011 is already approved and there will be a big number of private projects in the country; so construction segment is expected to recover fast. Nevertheless, since steel traders have been replenishing stocks with import material since end-February, they are presently delaying purchases in view of increased rebar offers. <br> Iraqi buyers still prefer products of Ukrainian origin due to better quality and despite higher prices for them compared to Turkish material ($5/t). Thus, offers of rebar from ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih are now about $770-790/t CPT Baghdad. However, the latest contracts for the material of April rolling were detected at $750/t CPT Baghdad (20,000 t) in mid-March, before the price growth. Last week Iraqi trading companies reportedly bought 25,000 t of Ukrainian rebar from Syrian traders at about $765-770/t CPT Baghdad. Besides, Turkish material, prices for which increased before mid-month, was booked at $765/t CPT Baghdad in the same period of time. <br> Domestic prices have headed up too. Nevertheless, Ukrainian material is still available in the secondary market by $10/t higher than Turkish one. However, the prices may gain another $5-10/t soon considering that construction activity is growing rapidly. <br> (Source: <a href="http://www.metalexpert-group.com/"><span><u><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">www.metalexpert-group.com</font></u></span></a> )</span>