Turkish merchant bar producers kept their prices stable last week, after increasing export offers the week before as a result of higher scrap and billet prices.

Offers currently stand mostly at $480-490/tonne for angles, $490-500/t for IPN-UPN sections, $500-510/t for flat bars and $490-500/t for IPE sections. These are all on a fob Turkey basis. However, lower and higher quotes of $475/t and $495/t fob respectively are also available from some angle producers, depending on their billet and production costs and order books.

Turkish merchant bar producers are said to be unhappy with the level of export demand. Domestic demand, however, performed well last week after a protracted period of weakness. The further depreciation of the lira has been the supporting factor for domestic demand.

A Turkish merchant bar re-roller tells Kallanish: “Export demand has been the slowest since the beginning of this year. Buyers have lost their appetite. This may be due to uncertainty arising from China or buyers being satisfied [with material] – I don’t know exactly.”

Despite the low level of euro/dollar parity, EU demand was surprisingly good last week, allowing Turkish merchant bar producers to sell a large amount of merchant bar there. The sales were mostly for April shipment and will use the EU’s “Other Countries” quotas.

Africa, however, was again the star of the week. Some low-quantity sales were concluded to the Far East and South America. Middle Eastern customers mostly checked prices, while the number of deals concluded has remained limited.

Turkish merchant bar producers were able to source domestic billet at $420-425/t ex-works and imported billet at $410/t cfr last week. Depending on billet prices and the level of demand, they may update their price this week.