The Turkish flat steel market has witnessed another week of sluggish demand. While neither producers nor traders in the domestic flat steel market have made any significant adjustments to their sales prices, new flat steel import offers to the Turkish market have been heard.
SteelOrbis has learned that Russian steelmaker Severstal has been offering March production hot rolled coils (HRC) to the Turkish market at $875/mt CFR, while Ukrainian steelmaker Zaporizhstal's HRC offers stand at $770/mt CFR. It is reported that the HRC offers of Russian steel producer Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) to the Turkish market stand at $850/mt CFR. Meanwhile, it is reported that MMK has not allocated any cold rolled coil (CRC) or hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil from its March production for export to Turkey. In the meantime, Severstal's CRC offers to Turkey stand at $970/mt CFR, while its hot rolled sheet (HRS) offers are standing at $920/mt CFR.
Market sources indicate that domestic flat steel demand for local producers' April production has been less than satisfactory this week. Turkish flat steel producers Erdemir and Çolakoğlu Metalürji have maintained their domestic offers at their previous levels. Thus, the Turkish integrated steelmaker Erdemir's HRC offers stand at the base price level of $850/mt ex-works, while its 1-1.5 mm CRC offers are at $960-970/mt ex-works. In the meantime, Çolakoğlu Metalürji has maintained its HRC base price at $830/mt ex-works.
While Turkish flat steel producers' unchanged domestic offers have remained above the price idea of local dealers, the new flat steel import offers, which are at similar price levels as compared to domestic offers, have surprised traders, who had been expecting lower offer levels. In the past week, spot flat steel prices have not shown any significant changes. However, some companies have continued to face difficulties in obtaining supplies of cold rolled material. In this week's Turkish domestic spot market, 2-3 mm HRC offers have been at $780-810/mt, while 1-1.5 mm CRC offers have been at $920-950/mt, both ex-warehouse. SteelOrbis has further learned that 0.5 mm hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil spot prices have been at $975-995/mt ex-warehouse, while 1.0 mm HDG spot prices have been standing at $940-955/mt ex-warehouse.