Turkish long steel producers are struggling to sell abroad and in the domestic market. They have nevertheless kept their offers firm amid costly scrap, Kallanish notes.

Mills’ official export quotes for rebar on Thursday were mostly at around $565-570/tonne fob Turkey actual weight, and at $570-580/t fob for mesh-quality wire rod, unchanged from last week.

Sales pale in comparison with Turkey’s production capacity.

Buyers in the EU and the Balkans are seen to have slowed demand after buying remarkable volumes in early February.

Yemeni demand slowed after January rebar shipments of around 170,000 tonnes, followed by early-February sales.

Although sales to Palestine continue, volumes are much lower compared to Türkiye’s shipments last October. Turkish authorities mandating confirmation that material is delivered to Palestine and the buyer is a Palestinian importer has led to a drop in sales to the territory. A buyer in Lebanon meanwhile inquired about 10,000t of rebar. 

Some sales were concluded to Chile, Jamaica and some other Latin American countries at $560-565/t fob actual weight for rebar last week. Demand this week is seen to have slowed in these areas as well, with only a few low-quantity inquiries coming in.

A slowdown is also observed in sales to Africa. 

Besides sluggish demand, lower offers from North African competitors have led to a decline in interest in Turkish material. Egyptian and Algerian offers for rebar are seen standing at $535-565/t fob depending on the country and mill. 

Amid the availability of lower-priced offers, buyers expect lower levels from Turkish long steel producers. However, Turkish mills, with squeezed margins amid costly scrap, seem to have no room for further reductions. They hope a Chinese rebound will trigger demand in their domestic market before the start of Ramadan next week.

In the scrap market, US suppliers are seen targeting to sell HMS 1&2 80:20 at above $365/t cfr Turkey. Suppliers no longer find values below $360/t and $355/t cfr Turkey for US and European material respectively workable amid limited scrap flow. A deal from Denmark was meanwhile confirmed late on Wednesday at $358/t cfr for HMS 1&2 80:20.

In Turkey’s domestic market, mills ended the recent downtick on Thursday and offered rebar at $545-565/t ex-works, unchanged from a day earlier. Some mills, offering at the low end of the range, are seen to have increased their prices to $550/t levels on Thursday after selling some material.

Although expectations for March remain weak amid Ramadan and winter, Turkish mills expect a domestic demand recovery after March. They also believe exports will improve following clarity on Syria, Russia, Ukraine and Donald Trump’s tariffs.