According to market sources, demand in the local Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) spot market is still slack. Traders state that inquiries have significantly decreased in the market over the past week, while the ongoing political uncertainty in Turkey has raised concerns among traders and the problem of tight liquidity continues to become more serious. Meanwhile, prices in the local Turkish HRC market have decreased by $20/mt over the past week.
On the other hand, demand for domestic producers’ HRC has increased over the past week as inquiries increase, but it is still on the weak side since purchases are being made for small tonnages. As a result of negotiations, over the past week domestic producers’ HRC prices have declined by $20/mt to $380-400/mt ex-works, for September production, declining for the third consecutive week. Following the decline of prices, HRC purchasing volumes and accordingly demand for domestic producers’ HRC is expected to increase in the coming weeks.
The domestic sales prices of traders for local and imported hot rolled flat steel products in the Eregli and Gebze regions of Turkey are as follows:
| Product | Price ($/mt) | |
| Eregli | Gebze | |
| 2-12 mm HRC | 420-430 | 425-435 |
| 1.5 mm HRS | 450-460 | 455-465 |
| 2-12 mm HRC (for large volume sales) |
| 410-420 |
| 3-12 mm HR P&O | 480-490 | 495-500 |
The above prices are ex-warehouse and for advance payments, exclusive of 18 percent VAT.