<span>Turkish steel traders, realizing that prices for longs will keep climbing, have started to purchase the material. Local producers already now are taking benefit from the current situation and continue to raise domestic offers citing continuous growth of scrap and square billet quotations. Kardemir has announced new prices for rebar at $705/t (TRY 1,290/t) EXW today against $681/t (TRY 1,245/t) EXW a week ago. Notably, the supplier managed to close its sales book yesterday, having shipped a bit less than 15,000 t of the products at prices voiced on December 31. Domestic prices and changes in the US dollar terms exclude 18% VAT; those in Turkish lira include VAT. The exchange rate is $1 = TRY 1.55. <br> Moreover, for the first time over a month Kardemir has started offering square billet at $656/t EXW (St 37-2) and $660/t EXW (AIII), by $54-55/t higher than in early December. Market participants report the producer has already sold about 31,000 t of semis and left the market. (Source: <a href="http://www.metalexpert-group.com/"><span><u><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">www.metalexpert-group.com</font></u></span></a> )</span>