Business activity in the local flats market in Turkey has remained rather slow since mills have refused to provide sizeable discounts. Meanwhile, aggressive import offers have, as expected, led to sizeable deals. By the end of the week, some HRC import prices have rebounded, bringing some optimism among Turkish suppliers. However, the overall outlook for flats market activity in Turkey is still rather gloomy.
In the import segment, China has been the most aggressive in offers to Turkey during most of the week. Following deals for 30,000-40,000 mt at $560-570/mt CFR, the workable level for ex-China HRC has dropped to as low as $550/mt CFR for 50,000 mt vessels. However, at the end of the week the aggressive offers have been withdrawn and the prices went back up to $570-580/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned.
Vietnam, Indonesia and Taiwan have been offering at $590/mt CFR this week, while India has been in the market with $590-600/mt CFR. All offers are for December shipments.
Russia has also been in the market but has managed to sell only for shipments with short lead times. Overall, around 30,000-40,000 mt of HRC were booked last week to Turkey within the range of $565-580/mt CFR. Another supplier from Russia is currently evaluating bids and may close some deals shortly.
Turkish domestic HRC prices are at $650-680/mt ex-works this week, for November-December deliveries. Some sources expect Turkish mills to attempt a price increase back to $680-700/mt ex-works in view of the stronger offers from China.
However, most of the market factors are not in favor of a general flats market rebound. Domestic demand for flats has been low and in fact offers for cold rolled and coated steel have declined. Currently, CRC is available at $780-800/mt ex-works, down $20-50/mt over the past week. HDG and PPGI prices have decreased by $20-25/mt to $850-890/mt and $960-1,005/mt week on week, both on ex-works basis.
