Turkish rebar exports pressure southeastern US prices

By  Paul Ploumis 15 Aug 2015  Last updated at  08:16:10 GMT

Pittsburgh (Platts): With the lowest priced imported rebar seen this year due to arrive in October and November, US rebar mills have been working to stay competitive in the southeast of the country, sources said Thursday.

The Platts daily southeastern rebar price assessment decreased to $540-$560/st ex-works on Thursday from $550-$565/st on Wednesday.

A Southeastern rebar fabricator said mills have been calling him regularly, trying to get him to place orders.

"There's a little bit of downside to rebar. It looks like they're testing $5-$10/st down," he said.

The fabricator's range of pricing for No. 5 rebar edged down to $540-$560/st ex-works this week, from $545-$565/st a week ago, and offers fell without any inquiries.

"If you wanted to buy something you could probably negotiate down that much anyway," the fabricator said, adding that he has not needed to buy anything in the last few weeks because the added inventory would not be justified by his current order backlog.

A Florida-based fabricator said he bought domestic rebar this week at $510/st ex-works.

The fabricator's spot buying price has been steady for about a month, he said, even though import prices continue to deteriorate.

The fabricator said he has never seen import prices erode as quickly as they have this year.

One mill source said that in the last four to six weeks, as licensed rebar for July mounted and offer prices for Turkish rebar have declined, US mills have had to work harder to remain competitive.

"There is a broad range of pricing," the mill source said. "The market is trying to find [where it is] at the moment."

In July, the US licensed 178,481 mt (196,741 st) of rebar for import, up 93% from the 92,318 mt (101,763 st) imported in June, according to US Department of Commerce data.

June, however, represents the low point for US rebar imports this year.

Traders this week confirmed that Turkish rebar offer prices have been hovering around $420/mt CFR Houston for early November arrivals.

One southeastern rebar distributor said rebar offers for October arrival had fallen below $440/st loaded truck in Houston and early indications for November arrivals are below $420/st loaded truck.

The distributor said he has not heard of any new pricing from the domestic mills, and his buying price was still $560/st ex-works on Thursday.

Courtesy : Platts