Demand for import flat steel in Turkey has remained slack over the past week due to the ongoing political and economic uncertainties in Turkey and also due to the sharp fluctuations of the Turkish lira-US dollar exchange rate. This week, CIS-based suppliers have started to make new HRC offers to Turkey for March shipment at unchanged prices as compared to their prices for February shipment. Accordingly, these unchanged import flat offers to Turkey have gained a price advantage since domestic flat steel prices in Turkey have long been moving in an upward direction. However, Turkish buyers are still in no rush to conclude import flat steel bookings, adopting a wait-and-see stance for now amid the exchange rate fluctuations.
Accordingly, Ukrainian HRC offers to Turkey are still at $510/mt CFR, while Russian HRC offers to the same destination have remained stable at $520-530/mt CFR. Additionally, Ukrainian and Russian cold rolled coil (CRC) offers to Turkey have also remained unchanged during the past week at $580-590/mt CFR and $590-610/mt CFR, respectively.