[SMM Steel] Undercurrents in European HRC: Northern Mills Concede in Spain to Capture Orders Amid Import Apathy

[Turkey] Trading in Turkey's rebar market has largely ground to a halt. While mills have essentially locked in production schedules through late October and face little urgency to liquidate volumes, selling pressure from traders offering lower-priced material has begun to nudge some producers toward granting slight price concessions. Domestically, Turkish rebar ex-works prices held unchanged at 630 USD/tonne EXW (excluding VAT). Indicative ex-works offers from mainstream mills in the Marmara region remained at 650 USD/tonne EXW, while producers in Izmir and Iskenderun quoted 625 USD/tonne EXW. However, traders moving to lock in profits are broadly pricing their material 5 USD/tonne below mill levels; select mills have likewise signaled room for a 5 USD/tonne negotiation margin on orders scheduled for late-October delivery. In the export sector, Turkish rebar prices held steady at 615 USD/tonne FOB. Most mill offers remained nominally elevated at 640–650 USD/tonne FOB—with some producers even testing a 5 USD/tonne hike earlier in the week—yet overseas transactions remained extremely subdued.

Indian Railways has approved doubling of the 6 km Barbil–Bolanikhadan section under Southeastern Railway of Odisha at a cost of INR 122 Cr. The single line stretch now carries about 9 million tonnes of freight a year, entirely high-grade iron ore and pellets moving from SAIL's Bolani mines and private sidings to steel plants and ports. Once doubled, it can handle an extra 8.9 million tonnes annually and reduce freight train delays. Part of the "Energy, Mineral and Cement Corridor," the project aims to prevent congestion ahead of SAIL's mine expansion and new port and plant capacity.

According to an SMM survey, as of September 31, the operating rate of steel mills using externally purchased billets that mainly produce construction steel stood at 22.58%, up 0.37 percentage points MoM and up 9.01 percentage points YoY.