Chinese hot-rolled coils (HRC) remain the most affordable import option for Turkish buyers and, moreover, trade has been active most probably as the buyers have started believing the bottom is near. As a result, some addition volumes have been sold recently apart from those reported by SteelOrbis earlier this week.
According to sources, another 45,000 mt HRC cargo has been recently booked by a Turkish re-roller and the price is estimated at $555-556/mt CFR for on sight payment, which is slightly above the deal price concluded earlier this week, again for 45,000 mt, yet to another re-rolling company. In addition, some of the market players have reported another lot sold to Turkey at around $560/mt CFR including some extras. However, the information has not been confirmed by the time of publication. Following the deals for at least 90,000 mt of HRC, Chinese suppliers have increased their offers to $565-570/mt CFR, while some of them are targeting slightly higher levels.
In the domestic market in Turkey, no significant change has been reported yet and the realistic offer levels are still at $650-670/mt ex-works with some $10/mt discounts possible. Particularly, a medium-sized volume has been traded at $640-650/mt ex-works, sources report. However, some rebound may not be excluded for domestic HRC, given some positive signs in the import scrap market and the possible strengthening of deal prices for Chinese HRC.