A Turkish rebar export price of $420/t fob for October/November shipment was described by one source at the recent IREPAS meeting in Amsterdam as "high flying".

No deals have been struck at this level as traders expect prices to drop due to decreasing scrap costs in Europe and the USA. "I think rebar prices will reach $400-410/t by next week," said one. Real deals are expected to be concluded by Friday or early next week.

HMS 1 & 2 scrap from Italy and Spain has been dropping for the past two to three weeks and is now $195-200/t fob. It may go down to $180, one trader thinks. "I've had a lot of pressure from scrap merchants asking me to buy,he said.

Black Sea scrap merchants are trying to hold on to higher prices, and have seen smaller decreases than in Europe, but nobody is buying their material according to Turkish traders. A3 scrap from CIS countries into Turkey is expected to reach $200/t cfr from $220/t a week ago.

Turkish rebar mills are said to be trying to maintain high price levels. "But once the scrap starts to drop, they won't be able to hold on to these prices," a Turkish trader tells SBB.