The market situation in the hot-rolled coil (HRC) segment of Turkey has continued to improve this week with an additional increase in the prices being seen. One reason is the active restocking in the local market, supported also by decent sales of cold-rolled flats. Another factor is the easing of pressure in the import segment, given that India seems not ready to deal at aggressive levels anymore, having sold large volumes worldwide.
The domestic HRC offers in Turkey have further moved up this week to $840-850/mt ex-works base and even $860/mt ex-works levels have been reported by some suppliers. Since the end of last week, some deals were closed at $820-830/mt ex-works, following the earlier transactions at $800-820/mt ex-works, as SteelOrbis reported. “Mills have sold a lot to the local market lately due to some active restocking and are mostly sold out for March with only limited volumes available now,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
In the export segment, some small deals have been closed to North Africa (Tunisia and Algeria) at $820-830/mt FOB for March production. The latest offers for April shipments have been reported at $825-840/mt FOB.
On the import side, some relief has been seen in the situation regarding ex-India prices as the Indian mills seem to have withdrawn their aggressive offers. Following the sales for February-March production within $765-780/mt CFR in the previous two weeks, the Indian suppliers have stopped offering at these levels and are considering increasing prices. Facing significantly lower pressure from their stocks and also expecting better domestic demand, ex-India mills have started voicing price increases for exports, as SteelOrbis has reported. “India will be out of the picture with low offers for now as they sold a lot of tonnage over the past weeks. This is quite timely as the Turkish market is increasing and India’s offers and sales were at the lowest levels seen over here,” a Turkish producer said. According to sources’ estimations, ex-India HRC export sales totaled at least 200,000-250,000 mt of HRC for February-March production in deals done in the previous two to three weeks. The main destinations were Vietnam, the Middle East, Turkey, Europe, and some African countries.
In Turkey, some levels for March production from India have been heard at $800-805/mt CFR, while a lot of market players expect the premium suppliers to announce $820-840/mt CFR in the near term.
As for the CIS, Ukraine’s Metinvest has voiced $810-820/mt CFR for March production depending on coil weight, while the latest deals were closed at around $790/mt CFR for small coils. Sources believe the producer might increase its offers further, given its sales to the alternative markets and also considering the improved situation in Turkey. Russia is still mainly out with March production offers. Some sources voiced one cargo is on the table at around $830/mt CFR, but for April shipment. Another mill believes it is still too early to announce, but targets to sell at not lower than $820-825/mt CFR, SteelOrbis understands.