Buyers in the local Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) spot market have halted their purchases in order to gain a clearer picture of the market trend amid the sharp rise in the strength of the US dollar against the Turkish lira after the military intervention by Saudi Arabia in Yemen today, March 26. Demand in the Turkish HRC market is currently very weak, while prices of HRC and hot rolled pickled and oiled coils (HR P&O) have remained unchanged over the past week.
Meanwhile, Turkish steel producers' HRC offers have declined by $10/mt on the lower end compared to last week to the range of $440-460/mt ex-works. Although some producers have insisted on keeping their prices in this range, still no transactions have been heard at $460/mt. Moreover, discounts of around $10/mt continue to be available depending on buyers and tonnages.
The domestic sales prices of traders for local and imported hot rolled flat steel products in the Eregli and Gebze regions of Turkey are as follows:
Product | Price ($/mt) | |
Eregli | Gebze | |
2-12 mm HRC | 480-490 | 485-495 |
1.5 mm HRS | 510-520 | 515-525 |
2-12 mm HRC (for large volume sales) | 470-480 | |
3-12 mm HR P&O | 550-560 | 565-570 |
The above prices are ex-warehouse and for advance payments, exclusive of 18 percent VAT.