Although business activity has improved marginally in recent weeks, participants in the Turkish flat steel spot market report that demand has decreased this week and trading has returned to its previous weak level. Nonetheless, flat steel spot traders have chosen to raise prices, if only by a limited margin with respect to the strength of scrap and hot rolled coil (HRC) prices. In the meantime, while larger traders have reported that demand remains stable, medium and small-sized traders have expressed concern about their future sales due to economic problems in Turkey, as well as the anticipated end-of-year expenditure adjustments.
“We made a few adjustments this week, but demand has remained limited and weak. These hikes avoid falls, which is a good thing. However, if there is no demand, even if scrap increases, the price of flat sheet metal will eventually fall. This is the sector's most significant disadvantage,” a trader said to SteelOrbis.
Over the past week, workable domestic hot rolled sheet prices have increased by $5/mt to $670-695/mt ex-warehouse from last week. While some medium and small-sized traders continue to try to grab buyers' attention with cheaper prices at around $660/mt ex-warehouse.
A similar modest increase has been witnessed in the cold rolled sheet category, with current offers settling at $770-795/mt ex-warehouse, up from $770-785/mt ex-warehouse last week. Meanwhile, in order to boost sales, some traders are offering at $750-760/mt ex-warehouse.