China remains present in the Mediterranean region with flats offers reported to Europe, Africa and Turkey. However, it seems that the sellers prefer to concentrate on the Turkish market where some deals have been closed over the past couple of weeks.
The first deals for HRC from China to Turkey were closed by re-rollers for 10,000-20,000 mt lots at $720-730/mt CFR. Another Turkish coated steel producer, according to sources, has booked a ready cargo at $705/mt CFR for around 8,000-10,000 mt. In addition, the latest market information states that a large Turkish pipemaker booked 10,000-15,000 mt of ex-China HRC at $720/mt CFR but this has not been confirmed by the time of publication. In addition, the latest deals for cold rolled full hard (CRFH) material were closed at $730/mt CFR, again for a ready cargo.
Market players find it challenging to estimate the total volume of ex-China sales to Turkey, taking into account a good amount of manipulation seen in the segment. Most sources surveyed by SteelOrbis are cautiously estimating the HRC tonnage at around 50,000-55,000 mt and around 20,000-30,000 mt for CRFH. “We don’t hear many deals to pipemakers and, for now, according to my knowledge, only a few re-rollers have booked [HRC],” a trader said. However, some believe that the prices from China are too good for the sales to be limited and therefore believe that Turkey booked over 100,000 mt of HRC over the past weeks.
The current offer level for ex-China HRC is somewhat vague as the price differs depending on the seller, cargo readiness and shipment. Ready cargoes are mainly reported as being offered at $690-700/mt CFR, while HRC for new orders is mainly available at $720-730/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned. “The ready cargoes are for close shipment and cheaper, but the breakdown is pretty much set, which is not good for re-rollers. Those cargoes are already produced and they were destined to be sold in the local market in China to begin with,” a Turkish producer told SteelOrbis. “I think $710-715/mt CFR would be a correct price for re-rollers to buy in new orders,” another source said.
It is worth mentioning that the competitive ex-China offers have brought down HRC prices in Turkey. In the local maket, prices levels have fallen by $10-20/mt to $800/mt ex-works, while ex-CIS offers decreased by around $20-30/mt over the past two weeks to $760-770/mt CFR, depending on the supplier.