The positie situation in the Turkish flat steel market has let CIS-based steel slab suppliers achieve higher sales prices for January shipments. Moreover, the sellers count on even higher levels in the coming deals, supported by the rapid uptrend in China. Another positive factor is that the steel slab allocation globally has remained limited.
Ex-CIS slab prices have increased by $10-15/mt since early November, with the most recent deal prices and current offers ranging within $460-470/mt FOB. At least 80,000 mt of slabs from Ukraine were sold to Turkey last week from slightly below $470/mt CFR to $472-475/mt CFR in the most recent transactions. The higher end of the range is still considered workable by the Turkish mills, which keep sending inquiries. However, Metinvest is now aiming to sell at $485/mt CFR at the lowest, while similar levels are considered for the Italian market.
Limited availability is another issue, which makes the suppliers’ positions more advantageous. NLMK is out of the market as there is no volume for sale currently. Severstal is not going to have available volumes until January at least. In the meantime, Brazil has been flying high, being focused on sales to the US. “Turkey has no alternative place to source slabs. China is getting stronger with $480-490/mt CFR is now discussed as a workable price,” a source told SteelOrbis.
