Turkey’s cold rolled coil (CRC) producers have followed the upward trend seen in the import scrap segment, also amid the positive mood in the hot rolled (HR) feedstock market. In addition, re-rollers are mainly sold out for March deliveries, and so they are under less pressure.
Domestic CRC offers in Turkey for April deliveries have increased by at least $20/mt over the past week to $570-590/mt ex-works depending on the mill. Early this week, 1,000-3,000 mt lots were being sold at $560-570/mt ex-works across Turkey. In particular, buyers have been accepting $580-585/mt CFR Marmara levels from sellers, based in Iskenderun and the northern region of the country, SteelOrbis has learned. Nowadays, mills are trying to test higher levels, while some sources expect offers to hit $600/mt ex-works next week. As regards exports, most re-rollers have set their prices at $580-590/mt FOB by the end of this week.
In the import segment, offers from South Korea have been at $560-565/mt CFR for April shipments. Russia’s NLMK, according to sources, has sold to some industries at as high as $570-575/mt CFR. The rest of the CIS-based mills remain out of the Turkish market for now. It is worth mentioning that Chinese origin cold rolled full hard material is on offer at $535/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned. “China needs to sell and it is a good price for re-rollers, but also it can include some extras,” a trader said.