JEDDAH: Buying activity in the Saudi market for longs and structurals is still high, Arab Steel reported Friday. The rapidly developing construction industry makes traders restock permanently, it said. Nevertheless, they still prefer purchasing local material due to its affordable prices and relatively fast delivery. As a result, prices for rebar have remained unchanged since June 2010 in view of governmental regulations, the report noted. At the same time, demand for wire rod has substantially increased lately and local producers have managed to increase their quotations of the material by $40 per ton to $44 per ton in 3 weeks. In the segment for import products prices are moving in different directions, though, the report said. For example, offers of Turkish longs have decreased by $25 per ton in 3 weeks on slack demand while the bottom of price range for structural has added $10 per ton over the same period on higher demand. As a result, Turkish rebar is priced within the same range with local material. At the same time, quotations of rebar from Emirate Steel Industries have gained $40 per ton to $47 per ton from mid January reaching levels unattractive to Saudi buyers while its prices for wire rod have increased by $42 per ton to $47 per ton over the same period and are rather acceptable. Another Emirati supplier Hamriyah Steel is offering rebar at quite attractive prices $740 per ton to $745 per ton delivered to trader's warehouse in Riyadh. Besides, a booking of Qatari rebar has been reportedly made at $713 per ton CPT Riyadh against $726 per ton CPT Riyadh three weeks ago.
