While overall business activity in Turkey’s hot rolled coil (HRC) market has remained relatively silent, this week buyers have started reporting aggressive offers from Chinese traders. Since domestic offers and a majority of import offers remain at rather high levels, the gap between these prices and those from China has significantly widened. If the modest demand situation persists, the aggressive import pricing might pull down the general HRC price levels in Turkey.
According to sources, some traders have chosen an aggressive approach in their offers of Chinese HRC to Turkey this week, most probably trying to sell out previous positions and while facing tough competition. As a result, while in the past week the majority of ex-China HRC stood at $730-740/mt CFR Turkey, currently some sellers are offering at $690-710/mt CFR for Q195 grade. To be fair, some of the traders are offering at higher levels - $720-725/mt CFR. Most of the material is for May shipment, which is not so attractive for Turkish buyers. However, the fact that the Chinese prices are much lower than those from their competitors might result in some deals in the near future.
Particularly, ex-South Korea offers are at up to $800/mt CFR for May shipment of HRC, while Egypt is at $840-850/mt CFR Turkey. Japanese sellers are with around $760-780/mt CFR offers, the same as last week. The information regarding ex-India offers varies - some sources still report offers at around $810-820/mt CFR, while others say that certain suppliers are negotiating at around $780/mt CFR.
In the domestic market in Turkey, mills’ HRC prices remain firm despite the slow trade, mainly owing to the decent order volumes closed previously, but also because of the lack of domestic production. “Isdemir is still not in the market, which means a large volume of HRC and other steel is missing,” a trader commented. The official offers from the Turkish mills are at $850-870/mt ex-works mainly for June deliveries. However, some sources have reported $830/mt ex-works may be achievable soon from certain suppliers.