The falling dollar put the brakes on the hardware market
According to Ahan Online - After the dismissal of the Minister of Economy, the exchange rate in the market began to decline and entered the channel of 91,550 Tomans on Tuesday, March 14, which affected the free iron and steel market, and therefore most of the long and wide products in the steel chain were offered without changing the price in the free market on March 14. This is while there are no customers for steel products and the steel market is in complete recession in the last days of the year and is waiting for the exchange rate to stabilize and the end of energy restrictions.
A review of the Industrial and Mining Hall of the Iran Commodity Exchange since the beginning of the third trading week of March shows that on Sunday, March 12, approximately 194,550 tons of sponge iron were offered in the physical market, which, considering the demand recorded as 0.9 times higher than the supply, 71 percent of the sponge iron volume offered was traded. The average weighted price per kilogram of sponge iron in trading on Sunday, March 12, increased by 1.1 percent compared to the previous week and reached 17,563 Tomans. The average weighted price of sponge iron trading last week was recorded at 17,358 Tomans per kilogram.
Also, a review of the physical ring on Monday, March 13, shows that the Commodity Exchange hosted the supply of 147,165 tons of ingots, which, given the demand being 1.2 times the supply, 73 percent of the supply volume was sold. The average weighted price of ingots in trading on Monday, March 13, was recorded at 29,181 Tomans per kilogram, which showed an increase of 177 Tomans compared to the previous week. Steel ingots were sold at an average price of 29,181 Tomans per kilogram in the industrial ring, which, taking into account transportation costs, exchange fees, and value-added tax, reached the hands of the rolling mills at 30,000 Tomans per kilogram, resulting in a floor price of 33,000 Tomans per kilogram.
However, credit purchases in the physical ring caused an increase in the price in the industrial hall, and rebar was subsequently offered in the open market at a price of 31,000 Tomans per kilogram. Given that the housing and construction sector is still in recession, and rebar has practically no buyers despite this price increase, we should expect lackluster transactions in long sections on Wednesday, March 6.
The sluggish steel market has no customers
A survey of the open market for steel and iron products on Tuesday, March 6, shows that the prices of most steel chain products were offered in the market without changing prices. For example, Isfahan Steelworks' size 22 rebar was offered and traded in the market at an average price of 34,090 Tomans per kilogram. Some of the beams from different companies were offered in the open market on Tuesday, March 6, without changing their prices compared to the previous day, and some others were accompanied by a price drop. For example, each branch of Isfahan Steelworks' size 16 beam delivered to Tehran was traded at a price of 6,500,000 Tomans, which reports a 1.4 percent price decrease compared to the previous day, and other types of beams produced by this company were offered in the market on Tuesday without changing their prices.
The market situation for wide steel sections is similar to long sections, and the products did not face a significant price change compared to the last trading day. Isfahan profiles in all sizes remained unchanged on Tuesday, March 14, and for example, the 20x20 construction profile was released to the market at a price of 42,000 tomans per kilogram. This is while the black sheet market, unlike other products in the steel chain, fluctuated on the day under review. For example, the 1000-meter black sheet produced by Mobarakeh Steel Company recorded a 1.1 percent price decrease on Tuesday and was traded at a price of 42,050 tomans per kilogram, and the 2000x1000 black sheet produced by the same factory increased in price by 0.4 percent and was released to the market at a price of 43,180 tomans.
