Buyers in the Turkish domestic market have limited their hot rolled coil (HRC) purchases in line with their needs amid increasing concerns due to the ongoing depreciation of the Turkish lira against the US dollar, causing demand in the local Turkish HRC market to decline slightly. Despite the weakness of demand, Turkish steel producers revised their domestic HRC offers upwards by $15/mt towards the end of last week to $500-520/mt ex-works, with the influence of the sharp rises seen in global coal and iron ore quotations.
On the other hand, both domestic and export offers for Chinese HRC have declined in the current week due to falling iron ore prices which decreased by $7/mt to $73/mt on November 15, after the Chinese steel futures market started the week with price corrections. After the declines recorded in Chinese HRC quotations, the mood in the Turkish flat steel market has become more apprehensive and buyers have begun to maintain a wait-and-see stance. Following these developments, Turkish HRC producers, who had increased their offers towards the end of last week, have kept their prices stable in the current week, while they are keeping a close eye on the global market. Additionally, with the Turkish lira once again losing significant strength against the US dollar today, November 17, sentiment in the local Turkish HRC market has deteriorated further and domestic demand for HRC is not expected to improve in the short term.
The domestic sales prices of traders for local and imported hot rolled flat steel products in the Eregli and Gebze regions of Turkey are as follows:
Product |
Price ($/mt)
|
|
|
Eregli |
Gebze |
2-12 mm HRC |
510-520 |
510-530 |
1.5 mm HRS |
550-560 |
555-575 |
2-12 mm HRC (for large tonnages) |
490-500 |
|
3-12 mm HR P&O |
560-570 |
580-610 |