Posted on 15 Feb 2022
Recent rebar export deals concluded by Gulf Cooperation Council mills will be a benchmark for March-delivery rebar quotes in the domestic market, Kallanish notes.
“In March, there could be a rebar shortage in UAE and Oman,” opines a senior trader. “The largest-capacity integrated mills in Bahrain, UAE, Oman and Qatar have rebar-billet export commitments for large quantities. Their most recent [rebar] deals have been concluded at $725-735/tonne fob theoretical weight and billet at $680/t fob, to be dispatched in March. Recent rebar export prices can be a benchmark for rebar quotes in the domestic market for March shipment, since the early export bookings were at $685-695/t fob theoretical weight.”
“For March, all market participants expect that [UAE] rebar prices will increase by AED 100-150/t [$27-40],” comments a sales manager of a mill.
This week, in United Arab Emirates, rebar prices in the retail market have gained momentum amid expectations of price hikes for March deliveries. Contractors’ demand for stocking purposes and their enquiries have pushed up rebar prices by AED 20-30/t ($5.4-8.1) on-week amid a shortage of rebar and billet supply.
In the retail market this week, prices of 12-40mm diameter rebar for Emirates Steel (ESI) material are at AED 2,530-2,540/t ($688-691), while non-ESI material is at AED 2,460-2,480/t ($669-675). This is delivered to the customer’s warehouse on credit payment.
"Traders have been expecting Oman-based Jindal Shadeed [JS] to announce its rebar quotation nowadays – in mid-February – due to an unexpected disruption caused by a breakdown [mill outage] that happened in mid-January. However, JS will not allocate any rebar sales into UAE for February shipment," confirms a source familiar with the situation.
“This is an opportunistic increase in demand,” comments a senior mill official. “Mills have suspended offering rebar and do not accept purchase orders, since raw material [iron ore and scrap] prices have increased globally, whereas imported and local billet prices increased around $20-50/t.”
For February shipments, largest UAE steel producer ESI has invoiced 12-40mm diameter rebar at AED 2,490/t ($678/t) ex-works, with an AED 35-75/t discount applicable on pre-agreed quotas. Other mills’ rebar transaction prices were at AED 2,410-2,430/t ex-works. These prices are based on 90-day credit terms.
This week, Iranian mill Chadormalu has sold 30,000 tonnes of 150mm 3sp grade billet for March delivery at $602/t fob Iran. The destination has not been revealed.
Source:Kallanish
