price
Market Overview
China domestic trade.
This week, the Zhejiang market construction steel first up and then down, the overall market turnover is obviously relaxed. Next week, the demand side, with the project start progress continues to improve, is expected next week, such as infrastructure demand into more obvious transactions, transactions continue to improve. On the supply side, under the constraint of production profits, the increase in supply next week may be limited and the pressure level will be fair. On the inventory side, inventory growth slowed down this week, the overall arrival of steel mills next week is normal, under the influence of improving demand, inventory growth may slow down further.
Asia.
The import and export transactions of long steel in Asia continued to be light this week, with supply and demand showing a double weak situation. For Chinese exports, demand has not picked up significantly since the end of the Chinese New Year holiday, with steel mills offering basically the same price as before the holiday. A leading domestic steel mill recently quoted US$640/t FOB for rebar exports, while a large steel mill in southern China quoted US$641/t FOB solid weight for 18-25mm rebar to Hong Kong, flat compared to the previous period and negotiable. Foreign offers from other countries were also inactive, with a leading Malaysian steel mill quoting US$645/mt DAP to Singapore and Middle Eastern resources quoted at US$640-650/mt FOB.
On the demand side, there is still a lot of uncertainty in the current rebar market, with buyers in Hong Kong and Singapore mostly taking a wait-and-see stance. Some trader sources said that current stocks are sufficient and there is no urgency to purchase, perhaps considering resources below US$650/mt CFR price.
Turkey.
Turkish long steel prices remained stable this week, with rebar exports recently quoted at US$720-730/t FOB, a price level that has little competitive advantage in overseas markets, with market sources saying there may be a small amount exported to the Middle East. The strong earthquake in south-eastern Turkey last week is currently focusing on reconstruction and repair work in the affected areas, and although market activity has partially resumed, more focus will be placed on the domestic market in the short term.
Domestic demand for rebar in Turkey has increased significantly. According to a letter sent by the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD) to its member producers on the afternoon of 14 February, the Turkish government has asked domestic producers to deliver 4 million tonnes of rebar within 3-4 months in order to kick-start post-earthquake reconstruction efforts.
Turkish long steel exports have been dismal. It is understood that the EU’s January-March quota for Turkish long steel imports is not yet exhausted: as of 10 February, 58.8% (88,881 tonnes) of Europe’s January-March import quota for Turkish rebar was still awaiting allocation, and another 95.6% (145,329 tonnes) of wire rod was still awaiting allocation. European steel mill sources said that the unused quota was mainly due to poor weather conditions, as well as high stocks from the previous quarter which weakened demand, and more competitive prices in Egypt and Algeria.
India.
Demand for semi-finished products in India remained strong, while trade in finished long products showed a mixed trend, with volumes in the Raipur region in the last two days at around 2800-3400 tonnes, with 10-25mm rebar in the region trading at Rs51,000-51,300/t ($615-619/t) EXW and 5.5mm wire rod at 51,000-51,500 Rs 51,000-51,000/mt ($615-622/mt) EXW, with overall prices in the long products market remaining stable.
Europe.
In rebar, most deals were generally concluded at the beginning of the month, with most buyers having replenished their stocks in early February, so demand was relatively light mid-week. Italian domestic rebar prices were at €810/t EXW this week, largely stable week-on-week, with steel mills’ orders having largely been cast at the top in February, and core economic indicators for Germany, Europe’s main economy, have been on an upward trend since January, so prices are expected to trend slightly higher next week
Post time: Feb-22-2023