As in the previous week, the Turkish
stainless steel market has remained quiet again this week due to low demand.
With its import-dependent structure,
Turkey's major
stainless steel import sources are
Taiwan, South Korea and
Germany. Since
stainless steel producers in these countries have been continuously adjusting their prices downwards for a while amid poor global
stainless steel demand, Turkish buyers are maintaining their cautious approach, by keeping their purchases at minimum volumes in order to avoid higher inventories. In the meantime, considering that orders placed for Far Eastern
stainless steel would arrive to
Turkey in two to three months, Turkish buyers are anxious to avoid taking risks given the instability of prices and weak demand, preferring to meet their needs from European steelmakers and traders instead, who offers lead times as short as 15-20 days for ready-stock second quality materials.
Besides, the price difference between Far Eastern and European
stainless steel offers to
Turkey also supports the choice made by Turkish buyers. Accordingly, Far Eastern suppliers' offers for 304 2B
stainless steel cold rolled coil (
CRC) of 2 mm thickness to
Turkey are standing at $2,700-2,800/mt CFR, while European offers to
Turkey for second quality 304 2B
stainless steel
CRC are at $2,600-2,650/mt CFR. In the meantime, sales prices for similar materials in the Turkish domestic market are standing at the price range of $3,100-3,200/mt ex-warehouse.
The
stainless steel market outlook has remained gloomy as major Chinese
stainless steel producers have been curbing their production, as
Taiwan's YUSCO has cut its domestic and export prices again for July and as nickel prices are still on a downward trend. On the other hand, as of June 28 nickel prices at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed the day at $16,375/mt for cash settlement.