Turkish mills have been keeping their official hot rolled coil (HRC) offers high this week, though by the end of the week the sentiment in the market has weakened amid lower import scrap price levels in deals. As a result, buyers expect lower levels to be available next week, but the trend will depend on mills’ sales positions, which do not appear solid as exports have been slow.
Official local HRC offers in Turkey have remained at $460/mt ex-works at the end of the week for August-September deliveries. However, large buyers report $440-450/mt ex-works levels could be accepted by the mills for decent tonnages. “Nothing above would work these days, I believe, and some imports can be booked cheaper,” a source told SteelOrbis. In particular, ex-EU offers to Turkey have decreased by $10/mt over the week to $430/mt CFR, while India remains at $440/mt CFR. In addition, Ukraine’s Metinvest is still offering $425/mt CFR and $435/mt CFR for small and big coils respectively to be produced in August, SteelOrbis has learned.
In the export segment, most offers are at $440-450/mt FOB, the same as a week ago. Some sources say $430/mt FOB levels are being offered to Asian markets in particular, with no positive feedback though. Producers report that the majority of bids from all key destinations have been coming at $400-410/mt FOB maximum.
