By the end of the current week, hot-rolled coil (HRC) suppliers to the Turkish market have once again increased their indications, after widening their offer range earlier. Moreover, some of them have already managed to sell at a higher price or to receive higher bids and to postpone negotiations until next week. The situation remains relatively stable with most players thinking no severe price fluctuations will be seen in the short term. Still, the weakening currency may impact business.
In the local market in Turkey, official offers from mills have increased by $10/mt to $910-940/mt ex-works and levels even $10/mt higher have been heard. Still, the workable prices are estimated by the buyers at the lower end of the range. In the import segment, the latest deal from Ukraine for big coils has been closed at $900/mt CFR, up $20/mt from the previous transaction for the same coil weight. Russian mills have been out of the market this week and are expected to return with offers by the end of the month. For now, the highest bid for ex-Russia material has been reported at $880/mt CFR, up from $860/mt CFR closed in the previous deals.
Turkish re-rollers have also increased their offers for coated and cold-rolled steel over the past week. Local base hot-dip galvanized (HDG) offers have increased by $30-60/mt over the past week to $1,240-1,280/mt ex-works, while pre-painted coil prices have settled at $1,320-1,360/mt ex-works, up $10-20/mt over the same period. As for CRC, domestic mills’ prices are now at $1,090-1,110/mt ex-works base, increasing by $40/mt.
In the retail segment, 2 mm hot-rolled sheet prices are now at $980-1,000/mt ex-warehouse, while 1 mm cold-rolled sheets are at $1,135-1,180/mt ex-warehouse.
