(Minews) - Export markets for Ukrainian rebar and wire rod have shown no improvement in the past week, sources told Metal Bulletin sister title Steel First on Monday February 24.
Demand was still weak and “not what it should be at this time of year”, one trader said.
The violent escalation of the civil unrest in Ukraine’s capital Kiev last week put additional pressure on the market, Steel First understands.
Some traders refrained from buying Ukrainian material, as they do not want to bear the risks until the situation becomes clearer, a second trader said, adding: “There is no clarity so far.”
“We are on standby,” a third trader said. “Who knows what will hapen tomorrow [in Kiev]?”
Steel First assessed CIS-origin rebar prices at $535-545 per tonne fob Black Sea on February 24. The assessment for wire rod was $540-550 per tonne on the same terms.
The assessments were flat week-on-week due to a lack of fresh bookings.
Deals for rebar from ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR) were concluded at $545 per tonne fob Black Sea last week, the second trader said.
AMKR’s wire rod was traded at $550 per tonne fob in mid-February, according to the same source.
The producer has been offering its rebar and wire rod at $560 per tonne fob recently, according to the first and second traders, but no fresh deals have been done amid sluggish demand and tough competition with Chinese suppliers.
Customers have a feeling that the price trend is still downward, as big distributors in Africa are “flooding the market” with low-priced material from China, the first source said.
Competition with Chinese suppliers has become stiffer recently, as some large traders are redirecting tonnages from the US market to other destinations because of the threat of an anti-dumping case, the source said.
“But China has not lost the US yet,” a fourth trader said. All that has happened so far is that US mills have applied to their government for a case to be brought, he added.
Steel First’s price assessment for China-origin rebar was $490-500 per tonne fob main port on February 21. The assessment for mesh-quality wire rod from China stood at $510-520 per tonne on the same terms.
Belarus Steel Works (BMZ) sold its March-rolled rebar at $510 per tonne fob Odessa (Black Sea) in mid-February, according to the first, second and fourth traders.
The price was down by $10 from the mill’s initial offer.
The total tonnage of the BMZ lot was 20,000 tonnes, the second source said.
BMZ normally offers its products at a price lower than the rest of the market as it only sells on full pre-payment terms.
