Turkey has been receiving more firm import offers for HRC for the new round of sales and, while ex-China prices have softened a bit, the price levels are still considered to be high for the current market conditions. Turkish buyers are expected to book more volumes from Russia and Egypt, while some Malaysian cargoes may also be booked since this is a duty-free origin, though with a long lead time. In the meantime, trade for domestic HRC has continued in small and medium volumes and prices are fairly stable due to relatively stable scrap prices and the lack of aggressive HRC imports.
Import offers for HRC from China have moved down slightly from the levels seen at the end of last week - to $485-487/mt for re-rolling grades from $485-495/mt CFR earlier. The cargoes are for February shipments. In addition, SAE1006 material is available at $513/mt CFR, while material with a pipe-making breakdown is at $525/mt CFR, in line with the previous week. Not much interest has been seen at the moment, considering the rather long lead time. Moreover, Turkish buyers are expected to book first from nearby sources.
In fact, Egypt is now offering at $560/mt CFR for February shipments, following the sale at $557/mt CFR of 10,000 mt which SteelOrbis reported last week. Russia is offering at $475/mt CFR generally for the Middle East for sanctioned material, while non-sanctioned Russian HRC for the new round of bookings is available at $495/mt CFR. “[Russian] HRC is the cheapest and closest one can get in Turkey and is close to the Middle East as well, so, while China is relatively high, I don’t think Russia will have a problem finding a buyer,” a source told SteelOrbis.
Malaysia is currently offering at $545-550/mt CFR for February shipments, with no serious negotiations reported yet.
In the meantime, the domestic HRC offer level in Turkey has settled at $555-570/mt ex-works base, more or less in line with last week. The higher end of the range belongs to offers for February deliveries, while the allocation for January is already very limited. As for exports, most offers are at $540-550/mt FOB officially, while some Turkish mills are offering for mid-February shipments.