Hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in Turkey have remained firm in offers, while the workable levels have also been climbing gradually, although the overall volume of purchases is somewhat limited. Buyers are negotiating to cover their current needs, seeing that the market is strong due to the import scrap situation. However, they are not quite convinced that the trend will be sustainable. At the same time, some Turkish buyers have decided to restock with Chinese HRC, despite the ongoing AD investigation.
Currently, offer prices for January delivery are at $660-670/mt ex-works in the domestic market, while some buyers have reported $655/mt ex-works is also available. Some are aiming to book at $645/mt ex-works, in line with the deals last week. HRC export offers from Turkey are at $630-640/mt FOB, still depending on the seller and the destination. Some buyers’ price ideas have been reported at not above $620/mt FOB.
In the import market, there is still basically only Chinese origin material available, while offers have increased by $5-10/mt since the end of last week. The offer for January shipment Q195 HRC of 3 mm and higher is at $595-600/mt CFR. A re-roller booked around 25,000 mt at the end of last week at around $585/mt CFR excluding payment extras. Another 10,000 have been sold recently via a trader at $595/mt CFR. Chinese HRC is mainly available for January shipments from mills now, while some traders may still be offering for the end of December.
