Hot rolled coil prices in Turkey have remained high in the second week of the year. Buyers are mainly waiting for CIS-based mills, from Ukraine specifically, to give firm offers to the market. In the meantime, the attractive price levels for Turkey have caused some customers to show interest in offers of Chinese origin.
Local HRC prices in Turkey have been set in a wide range of $810-830/mt ex-works, though $800-805/mt ex-works is also considered to be achievable by buyers.
In the import segment, the latest offers from MMK have been set at $805/mt CFR for March production, SteelOrbis has learned. Russia’s NLMK, according to sources, has sold out its remaining volumes for February production at $780-785/mt CFR. No fresh offers have been heard from Ukraine, but they are expected to gain clarity by the middle of the week.
Despite the generally strongly positive market situation, players have expressed some concerns regarding the prospects for the future trend. Suppliers of ex-China HRC have returned to the market with $730-740/mt CFR offers for March shipments, which is much lower than the local offers in Turkey and the prices from the CIS. According to sources, some medium-sized lots have already been traded to Turkey at $10-15/mt lower.