CIS exporters have started offering May production of longs this week but most of them have left their quotations unchanged. However, they will have hard time selling their material in view of unfavorable conditions in the foreign markets and a rollback in semis quotations. Buyers still show strong demand for wire rod, however, they are in no rush to purchase rebar. Besides, the political situation in the Middle East is still tense and Iranian buyers are just starting to return to the market after holidays. At the same time, European buyers keep insisting that quotations are reduced despite the increase in construction activity. It is even harder to agree prices with buyers from the Far East, so no shipments to the region are planned.
Now that there is a downward trend, CIS mills have to try harder to keep offers steady, especially since Turkish exporters have already dropped their prices by $5-10/t w-o-w. In particular, Turkish rebar and wire rod are available at $655-665/t FOB and $690-705/t FOB, respectively.
Ukraine's ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has begun offering its May production of longs, setting its prices at the level of last deals on April output. Besides, the manufacturer is actually selling wire rod at announced prices, market participants report. At the same time, the company will probably have to drop rebar quotations by $10-20/t in view of extremely low demand for it and current quotations from Turkish suppliers.
Belarus SW opened sales of rebar to be produced in May on April 6. The manufacturer has also set its initial prices at the level of last deals on April production; negotiations with buyers are currently underway. Metinvest International S.A. has almost sold out its May output of wire rod after dropping its prices by $10-20/t w-o-w on average.
Nevertheless, quotations of CIS longs to be produced in May to Europe have seen different adjustments mostly due to currency fluctuations. However, no deals have been reported so far. Traders expect that in view of weak demand CIS suppliers will have to reduce their quotations by some EUR 10-20/t at least.
At the same time, CIS exporters in the Far East are still unable to sell their longs to SE Asia because of unfavorable market conditions. Moreover, regional suppliers (the Chinese in particular) are offering wire rod at $710-720/t and traders are pricing it even lower – at about $690-695/t C&F. So, Russian mills will have to quote their material at some $690-700/t C&F ($670-680/t FOB) to compete with them, but this level means no profits.
In the Caspian region, no deals on CIS longs have been signed so far.
( Source: www.metalexperts-group.com )