While business conditions in Turkey’s flats market are evaluated as better compared to the longs segment, the overall sentiment is still quite weak. Flat steel suppliers have been avoiding dropping their official prices significantly, knowing this would disturb the shaky market rather than create many additional orders. However, in case of the firm demand their price policies are quite flexible.
Import HRC offers from China have rebounded from earlier this week by $8/mt on the upper end to $470-483/mt CFR with the lowest price representing non-VAT offers. The material is available for end-of-August and September shipments and for 3 mm Q195 HRC. No deals have been reported as the price level is considered a bit high in view of the situation in the domestic market in Turkey. Latest offers from Japan and South Korea for September shipments have been reported at $525/mt and $530-535/mt CFR with no transactions heard. Ex-Egypt indicative offers have been reported at $535-540/mt CFR for September shipments. Russia has also started to offer for the new round (August shipments) at $480-485/mt CFR for non-sanctioned material and $460-465/mt CFR for sanctioned material. Bids, according to buyers, are at $470-475/mt and $450/mt CFR, respectively.
Local HRC in Turkey is now at $535-555/mt ex-works base for end-of-August deliveries, while $5-10/mt lower levels are assessed as workable ones. Still, demand has remained quite limited, while higher offers from China and firm scrap prices are holding the mills back from providing additional discounts. As for exports, the official offers are at $525-535/mt FOB for August-September shipments, with $510-520/mt FOB being workable. Moreover, $500-505/mt FOB levels are also not considered to be off the table for complicated breakdowns of specifications with high extras.
In the coated and CRC segment, the market sentiment also remains weak with demand being on the low side. As a result, the re-rollers are mainly providing additional $10-20/mt discounts during negotiations in order to spur sales. Most of the material in the domestic market is available for July production, while for exports the offers are for July shipments.
Local base HDG offers are at $750-770/mt ex-works officially, but $730-750/mt ex-works is also possible for serious orders. Export indications are mainly at $700-730/mt FOB for 0.5 mm Z100 material, but the levels of $670-680/mt FOB and even slightly lower than that are also reported in the market. Turkish PPGI prices for commercial quality and for both local and export markets are at $810-850/mt ex-works/FOB officially, but the upper end of the range is not considered workable. As for exports, the lowest reported prices have stood at $790-805/mt FOB this week.
Turkey’s CRC prices are officially at $650/mt ex-works and around $620-640/mt FOB for August shipments, down $10/mt over the past week.