Business activity and price trends have remained positive in Turkey’s markets for coated steel and cold-rolled coils in the view of still relatively active restocking. The market situation is certainly being heated up by the sharp uptrend in domestic offers for hot-rolled feedstock in Turkey.
Currently, the domestic hot-dip galvanized (HDG) offers are mainly at $1,200-1,220/mt ex-works base, while late last week this range was voiced only as a price idea by some re-rollers. Still, the buyers believe $10-20/mt discounts are possible to get for April production, especially for exports, where the demand has not been great. The local offers for pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) have been settled at $1,310-1,330/mt ex-works base, up by $30-40/mt over the past week. “PPGI demand is good and we expect the paint prices to increase greatly. So earlier, between GI and PPGI was a $80-100/mt difference, now it is more like $120/mt,” a producer told SteelOrbis.
The pricing in the domestic CRC market in Turkey remains mixed up depending on the supplier, the month of production and the delivery of the goods. Most offers have been reported at $1,100-1180/mt ex-works base, up $30/mt on the higher end over the past week. “These are the offers from the suppliers who do not have the tonnage and do not want to sell,” a trader commented. In the meantime, one of the re-rollers which traditionally have the lowest prices in the market has lately offered around $1,070/mt ex-works for the base specification CRC.
In the HRC segment, as SteelOrbis reported earlier today, the highest offers are at $950-960/mt ex-works for May production, while $920-930/mt ex-works levels are still considered achievable by some buyers. Local HRC increased by around $55/mt over the week.
The market has been full of discussions regarding the free trade agreement to be signed shortly between Ukraine and Turkey. “Turkey is opening the local market for our metal. 510 out of 840 product groups will be subject to a zero percent duty. Another 130 products will be subject to a decreased duty rate which gives us the advantage over Russian origin material. For 167 of metallurgical products, there will be quotas of no less than 411,000 mt,” the Ukrainian economy ministry stated.
According to sources, while the semis trade will hardly be affected even if the duty is zero, the positions of local flats suppliers may be jeopardized, even despite Turkey’s inward processing regime. “It will be a disaster for Turkey if they let flats in without any duty,” a trader commented.