In the Turkish domestic market, Erdemir's long-waited list prices for April production were announced on Monday, March 8. Generally, price increases were announced, as the market expected. While a price increase of $40/mt was seen for hot rolled products and a rise of $35/mt for cold rolled, galvanized product prices fell by $30/mt. Meanwhile, the producer's plate and tin coil/sheet prices have remained unchanged. After the adjustments in question, Erdemir's product prices stand as listed below;
Hot rolled products $610/mt
Cold rolled products $700/mt
Galvanized products $730/mt
Plate $750/mt
This week, Erdemir and Isdemir have collected orders for April production, with orders still being collected as of Friday, March 12.
Import offers to Turkey have also continued to increase. Import offers, that will affect demand for Erdemir production directly, have increased approximately by $30-50/mt. Early this week, Russian mill Severstal announced its prices for April production, with its prices for deliveries to Turkey increasing by $30/mt to $670/mt for hot rolled and by $50/mt to $790/mt for cold rolled products. Another Russian mill MMK has increased its prices for deliveries to Turkey to the level of $670/mt for hot rolled and to the level of $750/mt for cold rolled products.
Currently, due to the high levels of import offers to Turkey, in the local market Erdemir products are expected to meet with high demand. Erdemir has only decreased its galvanized product prices, while increasing its hot and cold rolled product prices. In the domestic market, though a proper recovery of demand has not occurred, it can be said that some momentum has started to be observed. With this momentum, it is mentioned that Erdemir may see a large number of orders, as observed in previous months, and thus may reject some of these orders.
The Turkish flat steel markets finished the first week of March waiting for Erdemir's announcement for April production. Early this week, with the revised prices of the producer, the local Turkish market can be said to have registered price increases and greater activity. However, for now, the momentum in the local market is price based and acceptance has not been on the demand side. If in the coming weeks or months improvements in demand are seen which provide support for prices, then prices may remain at current levels or continue to increase.
In the local Turkish flats markets, hot rolled product (2 mm) and cold rolled product (1.0-1.5 mm) prices remain at the levels of $640-660/mt and $780-800/mt, respectively. With Erdemir's newly revised prices and increasing import offers, local traders have also increased their prices. However, it is necessary to note that in the local market prices have not found acceptance yet and there can be differences in the mentioned prices.