Turkish-origin export quotes for merchant bar remained mostly unchanged on-week, notes Kallanish.
On Friday, producers’ official export quotes were pegged mostly at around $590-620/tonne fob Turkey for angles, IPN-UPN sections, flat bar and IPE sections, unchanged from the previous week.
However, global buyers did not accept the high end of the range amid the wide price spread between Turkish producers. A few producers whose lead times are longer offered in the $620s. Most deals concluded at $590-605/t fob, depending on the destination and tonnage.
Demand remained subdued throughout last week.
Ahead of the winter holidays, there were only a few inquiries about Turkish merchant bar from the EU, while buyers’ bids appeared mostly at below $600/t fob.
Although there were a few inquiries from North Africa, Turkey’s major market, no deals to the region were heard as buyers resisted Turkish quotes. A cargo was sold to the destination the previous week at $655/t cfr Algeria – equating to around $595/t fob Turkey.
After spot sales to Guatemala, Argentina and Peru a week earlier, no bookings to the region were heard last week.
There were some inquiries from Palestine and Saudi Arabia. However, Saudi buyers, citing more competitive Chinese offers, refused to buy from Turkey at current prices.
In the billet market, Russia-origin offers were available at $445-450/t fob Black Sea, with no interest from Turkish buyers. In Turkey’s domestic market, billet offers stood mostly at $525-530/t ex-works.
Source:Kallanish
