Turkish buyers have continued to postpone their import flat steel purchases ahead of the local election to be held on Sunday, March 31, causing demand to remain at low levels over the past week. While Turkish buyers have continued to exert pressure on import flat steel quotations, some CIS-based hot rolled coil (HRC) producers were observed to be unwilling to offer lower prices due to their fairly full order books. Additionally, some CIS-based HRC mills have started their previously planned maintenance works, providing support for prices to move sideways. Market sources state that demand for import flat steel in Turkey is not expected to record any rapid recovery after the local election, while Turkish buyers are foreseen to wait to gain a clearer picture of the movement of the Turkish lira-US dollar exchange rate before restarting their purchases.
During the past week, ex-CIS flat steel prices have remained unchanged, with HRC and cold rolled coil (CRC) offers to Turkey at $520-540/mt CFR and $570-595/mt CFR, respectively.