The London Metal Exchange rebar contracts saw some trade over Monday and Tuesday, albeit for limited tons, representing the first actual prints of this year.
On Monday, the January contract traded at $320/mt for two lots, according to sources involved in the contract.
On Tuesday, February printed at $321.50/mt, again for two lots, after closing at $325/mt on Monday.
The Platts FOB Turkey rebar assessment, the settlement basis for the contract, also slipped Tuesday under pressure from cheaper Russian prices -- the vastly depreciated ruble has allowed Russian mills to become very competitive in the export market.
The physical assessment was down 50 cents day on day at $321/mt FOB Tuesday.
There was talk a large Russian steelmaker had sold into the US, a typical export market for Turkish bulk exporters, but this could not be substantiated.
In recent days, there has been talk of Russian rebar being offered and transacted at around $255-$260/mt FOB, which seems very low given the CIS billet assessment was at $242.50/mt FOB on Tuesday.
The LME recently said it was very pleased with development of the scrap and rebar contracts so far, both of which are showing 12-month curves already. It said physical players in Turkey and elsewhere were readying to trade the contract.
On Monday, the CEO of a large Turkish electric arc furnace-based steelmaker said he had given word that he wanted to trade the contracts, so his mill would soon be signing up.
A market maker on the contracts said Tuesday that "the order book continues to fill in daily."
By close of play, the rebar forward curve had settled at $323/mt for January and $322 for the rest of the first quarter -- up marginally from where the February trade had been struck earlier in the afternoon.
