Steel prices in Iran dipped slightly over the past week, despite signs of a pick-up in construction activity.
“It is a buyer’s market now in Iran,” Metal Bulletin, a UK-based specialist international publisher and information provider for the global steel, non-ferrous and scrap metals markets, quoted an unidentified local trader as saying. “We have better demand now [than in the spring], due to an increase in activity in the construction sector, but [it’s] far from a booming market.”
Billet in sizes from 125x125mm to 150x150mm traded this week at 13.00-13.50 million rials ($366-380) per ton ex-stock Tehran, down from 13.20-13.60 million rials ($372-383) per ton last week.
CIS suppliers were offering billet at $340-350 per ton cfr Iranian northern ports, down $5 per ton over the week.
Local mills in Iran sold rebar this week at 15.60-15.90 million rials ($439-448) per ton ex-stock Tehran, slightly higher at the top end of the range from last week’s 15.60-16.10 million rials ($439-453) per ton.
The country’s leading supplier of rebar, Esfahan Steel, sold rebar through the IME (Iran Mercantile Exchange) at 14.00-14.30 million rials ($394-403) per ton ex-stock.
And 2-5mm gauge hot rolled coil (HRC) was sold at 18.20-19.40 million rials ($512-546) per ton ex-stock Tehran, down from 18.30-19.60 million rials ($515-552) per ton last week.
Mobarakeh Steel Company sold HRC through the IME this week at 15.45-15.65 million rials ($435-440) per ton ex-works.
