Posted on 11 Oct 2021
Turkish long steel producers further increased their quotes on Friday.
Besides increasing scrap costs, price rises and production cuts seen in the EU, and China’s strong return after the holiday have boosted Turkish mills’ offers for rebar and wire rod.
On Friday, Turkish producers’ export offers were at $685-700/tonne fob Turkey actual weight and $790-810/t fob for rebar and wire rod respectively.
A Turkish mill expects rebar and wire rod prices to further increase this week. “Scrap suppliers who were offering at $460/t cfr Turkey withdrew their offers,” he said on Friday. “They are preparing for higher prices next week. We cannot keep our prices stable while costs are rising.”
On the other hand, the expectations of producers, who are optimistic that demand will improve, were further supported by price increases and production cuts announced in the EU, as well as rising post-holiday Chinese prices.
A Turkish rebar mill tells Kallanish: “Demand has further improved after Thursday. With current Chinese prices, we are expecting Asian demand to resume. South America, which was silent a day earlier, came with inquiries today. We may also conclude sales to the US soon.”
Another producer adds: “Increasing prices and production cuts arising from energy problems in the EU may be in Turkey’s favour.”
In Turkey’s domestic market, the steady upward trend continued on Friday. Mills have further increased their domestic quotes amid the weaker lira and costlier scrap. Although end-use demand is yet to improve, stockist demand is strong due to the shortage of some rebar sizes.
While some producers did not open sales on Friday, others increased their prices mostly to TRY 7,230-7,300/t, ex-works, including VAT. With the lira at 8.92 per dollar, this corresponds to $687-694/t ex-works, VAT excluded.
Scrap prices, meanwhile, continued their rise on a fresh booking on Friday. A mill in the south has bought an EU-origin cargo that contains 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 80:20, 10,000t of bonus and 10,000t of shredded at average $458.75/t cfr Turkey, for November shipment.
Billet prices are also increasing in Turkey. Following sales at $628-635/t only on Wednesday, a Turkish mill sold billet at $650/t ex-works on Friday.
Source:Kallanish
