Posted on 25 Jul 2018
Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Steel (ESI) has slashed its rebar price by AED 117/tonne ($32) from the previous month to AED 2,178/t ($593) ex-works for August deliveries. This comes as a slowdown in United Arab Emirates market activity has curbed steel demand.
The sentiment boost provided in May by the announcement of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s rebar import duty increase to 10% has now dissipated. Meanwhile, Iran’s potential withdrawal from the export market due to sanctions is yet to be felt. Asked if these factors could boost market confidence, a Dubai-based trader tells Kallanish: “It’s possible, but right now UAE is facing a bit of a slowdown.”
A UAE re-roller source says the price reduction was done in “…panic”. “What they (ESI) did cannot help to push consumption up, just the other way round; it pulls consumption down because UAE has double stock in traders’ yards,” he observes.
ESI's Dubai-based re-roller rival Conares has reduced its rebar price for August deliveries by AED 118/t to AED 2,172/t ex-works.
UAE’s crude steel output, the vast majority of which is accounted for by ESI, rose 3.8% on-year in May to 299,000 tonnes, bringing to an end seven consecutive months of decline, according to worldsteel data. January-May output, however, was still down -10.6% to 1.31 million tonnes.
