The latest situation in the Middle East steel markets; production and prices ranged

In Iran, there has been a 13% increase in steel consumption rates in the last 11 months. In 11 months this year, compared to last year, the consumption of semi and final products increased by 13% and 15%, respectively. Iranian semi-finished billet and slab consumption amounted to 21,740,000 per ton. The Iranian government's policy, influenced by the development plans it has set for years in the steel sector, its production continues to increase, it is foreseen that some factories producing sponge iron will start steel production next year, and this problem will have an impact on the billet market, and the billet factories will have to scrap from sponge iron.

In 2022, two factors had a noticeable impact on the steel market. The first period was when steelmakers faced power outages in the summer. The second external factor was the problem of gas supply. In 2022, the industry faced gas cuts as gas consumption exceeded production capacity, and therefore the production of sponge iron, which relied on gas supply, was stopped. The state had hoped that stocks in warehouses would be sufficient to keep the level of steel supply under control before the gas outage, but the ongoing cold climate has caused stocks to run out. As a result, the price of steel products doubled in the last 3 months of the year. In addition, the increase in foreign exchange and the increase in the price in the world market contributed to the price increase of steel products. With the cancellation of billet, rebar and sheet metal transactions on the commodity exchange in early March, the same policy implemented by the state continued.

The billet export price, which was in the range of $ 557-559 last month, increased in the first week of this month and was announced as $ 570-572. In the last weeks of March, Iran resumed political relations with the Arab country. The latest agreement signed between Iran and Saudi Arabia with the mediation of China will lead to an increase in the supply of foreign currency in the market as Iran's foreign trade progresses.

Saudi Arabia plans to set up a company this year to invest in mining assets worldwide, with $50 million in capital and 51% of the mine.

In the first ten months of 2022, Saudi Arabia's billet imports in January-October reached a total of 1.15 million tons, an increase was observed compared to 2020 and 2021. In 2021, the volume of log exports from Oman to Arabia was 393,844 tons, reaching 601,063 tons in January-October 2022.

In the UAE, the price of hot sheet imported from China increased by $ 10 to $ 20 per ton compared to the previous weeks and was recorded as CFR in the range of $ 710 -730. In addition, the prices of hot sheet exported from Indian factories to the UAE increased from $ 744 to $ 750-760 / t CFR. On the other hand, the increase in Chinese prices has caused Indian factories to increase the prices exported to the UAE market.

Egyptian rebar prices increased from $831 to $914 this week, while Algeria's rebar prices decreased from $690 to $675 this week. Following the long product imports made in Algeria in 2022, Tosyalı Algeria and Algerian Qatari Steel supplied approximately 400,000 tons of rebar and wire rod as long products to Europe. In the Algerian mining sector, export rates have increased by 216 million dollars in recent years and the demand for lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and rare minerals will increase in the coming periods.