While trading activity for import flat steel in the Turkish market was expected to increase slightly after the Feast of Sacrifice holiday (Sept. 12-15), no recovery in demand has been observed following the holiday, with buyers continuing to conclude deals only to meet their immediate needs against the backdrop of ongoing political and economic uncertainty in Turkey. Meanwhile, following the uptrend of ex-CIS hot rolled coil (HRC) prices last week, Chinese exporters have decreased their offers to the global market by an average of $20/mt week on week to $390-400/mt FOB. Accordingly, import HRC offers for Turkey are expected to move downwards in the coming period. On the other hand, Turkish buyers prefer to meet their immediate needs from their domestic market due to favorable lead times, while they have adopted a wait-and-see stance in terms of import purchases, preferring to observe the movements of import prices.
This week, no change has been recorded in HRC and cold rolled coil (CRC) offers from the CIS region to Turkey, with prices remaining at $390-420/mt CFR and $440-470/mt CFR respectively.