According to market sources, prices in the local Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) spot market have moved sideways during the past week except for hot rolled pickled and oiled coil (HR P&O) prices which have declined by $10/mt in the same period. Buyers are still trying to reduce their stock levels further ahead of the New Year and are only concluding deals in line with their needs. Meanwhile, the long-standing cash flow problems in the Turkish HRC spot market continue to be observed and are not expected to be resolved in the short term.
On the other hand, Turkish producers' HRC prices have also remained unchanged in the given period at $320-330/mt ex-works for December and January production. Meanwhile, demand for Turkish producers' HRC is still weak ahead of the New Year. Turkish producers continue to offer volume discounts, depending on buyer and tonnage, while HRC prices are still under pressure due to year-end considerations.
The domestic sales prices of traders for local and imported hot rolled flat steel products in the Eregli and Gebze regions of Turkey are as follows:
Product |
Price ($/mt) |
|
Eregli |
Gebze |
|
2-12 mm HRC |
340-350 |
345-355 |
1.5 mm HRS |
380-390 |
375-385 |
2-12 mm HRC (for large tonnages) |
330-340 |
|
3-12 mm HR P&O |
390-400 |
405-410 |
The above prices are ex-warehouse and for advance payments, exclusive of 18 percent VAT.