Demand in the local Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) market has remained slack during the past week, since prices, which have continued their uptrend, are considered to be on the high side. Despite the slack demand, Turkish steel producers have increased their domestic HRC prices by $25/mt on average to $570-600/mt ex-works from the beginning of this week until today, May 5, due to the tightness of HRC supplies in the market, resulting from the lack of recovery in volumes of import HRC offers to Turkey despite the removal of dumping duty on import material.
Meanwhile, following the rises seen in Turkish producers’ HRC quotations, prices in the local Turkish HRC spot market have also increased, despite the weak demand. Accordingly, HRC prices of traders in the Eregli region have increased by $15/mt on average, while HRC quotations of traders in Gebze region have risen by $30/mt on average, both week on week. Meanwhile, hot rolled pickled and oiled coil (HR P&O) prices in the Eregli region have risen by $30/mt on average in the same period. The price increases recorded in the spot market have also been supported by the fact that Turkish producers’ offers are mostly for July shipments.
The domestic sales prices of traders for local and imported hot rolled flat steel products in the Eregli and Gebze regions of Turkey are as follows:
| Product | Price ($/mt) | |
| Eregli | Gebze | |
| 2-12 mm HRC | 560-580 | 585-595 |
| 1.5 mm HRS | 600-620 | 615-625 |
| 2-12 mm HRC (for large tonnages) | 530-550 | |
| 3-12 mm HR P&O | 610-620 | 625-635 |
The above prices are ex-warehouse and for advance payments, exclusive of 18 percent VAT.