Coated steel prices fall in Turkey amid low demand, unclear prospects

Turkish re-rollers have been forced to decrease their prices over the past week due to low demand and the downturn in the hot rolled coil (HRC) segment. Moreover, export activity has declined significantly following the recent announcement of the antidumping investigation in the EU on HDG from Turkey and Russia.

Buyers have exerted strong pressure on prices after the announcement, with prices decreasing by $20-30/mt for both HDG and PPGI materials. Another decision of the EU to extend steel safeguard measures for another three years has affected the market outlook negatively. On the other hand, producers are optimistic due to the new Russian export tax and the possible export taxes to be introduced by China.

"Export demand has decreased sharply after the announcement of the investigation, and buyers have started to ask for lower prices immediately. Also, hot rolled coil prices have decreased by approximately $30/mt since last week. Local demand has failed to recover once again under these circumstances, while also the negative economic outlook has continued to affect the consumption of local buyers. In addition, the export taxes of Russia are another positive indicator in the market. In the meantime, if China also applies export taxes, that would be another support," a producer told SteelOrbis. Still, many producers are optimistic about the post-summer period and they think export demand will recover a little bit despite the investigation because of high local prices in the EU.