Business has remained rather chaotic in the Turkish coated steel market, with local prices indicating another significant increase, especially from the mills which have started offering for July and August production. Most buyers, according to sources, have already restocked with June production coated steel, while some of the large end-users have even secured their needs for July. As a result, a few re-rollers who still have some volumes for June production have failed to increase their offers and for HDG it is still possible to find June production at $1,160-1,170/mt ex-works, SteelOrbis has learned.
The market outlook is currently unclear and some companies are unwilling to declare their new levels, while some are trying to speed up sales. Some re-rollers are waiting until early next week to announce new offers, but the new levels are not expected to be below $1,200/mt ex-works for HDG. In addition, allocation for June production is expected to be sold out shortly. In the meantime, demand for coated steel has declined this week in Turkey due to currency fluctuations, while export demand has been good.
Overall, the financial situation in Turkey is an issue for the coated steel market since local buyers are cautious as regards restocking given the fluctuations of the lira. However, they are aware that, while export demand is good, products may be sold abroad and the allocation for the domestic market in the coming months may be insufficient and prices could increase. On the other hand, the weakening of the lira against the dollar has already caused financial problems for buyers in terms of their credit limits. Now they may receive lower volumes in their orders because of the weaker Turkish lira and this is also a problem for producers as it usually leads to the unplanned increases in stocks. In addition, the re-rollers have sold out their production for the coming months at higher prices, which means buyers require larger credit limits and these seem impossible to achieve at the moment.
In the meantime, the mood among re-rollers as regards prices remains bullish. "Coated steel producers have to follow HRC prices, which are already higher than $900/mt and are expected to hit $940-950/mt soon. We are also aware of the financial situation and everybody is cautious at the moment. But we have good export demand. Most producers have sold out their production until July. In this situation, any price decline would be irrational," a producer told SteelOrbis.
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Turkish domestic prices (ex-works) |
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Product |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
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HDG 0.50 mm 100gr/m² |
1,210-1,280 |
+40/+60 |
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HDG 1 mm 100gr/m² |
1,190-1,210 |
+50 |
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HDG 2 mm 100gr/m² |
1,140-1,180 |
+50 |
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PPGI RAL 9002 0.3 mm 100 gr/m² |
1,410-1,430 |
+20 |
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PPGI RAL 9002 0.5 mm 100 gr/m² |
1,250-1,300 |
+20 |
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PPGI RAL 9002 1 mm 100 gr/m² |
1,210-1,260 |
+20 |
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Turkish export quotations (FOB) |
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Product |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
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HDG 0.50 mm 100gr/m² |
1,190-1,240 |
+40 |
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PPGI RAL 9002 0.5 mm 100 gr/m² |
1,240-1,270 |
+20 |