While the domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) producers in Turkey are trying to maintain high domestic prices, although most buyers do not consider them workable, import offers remain plentiful. Moreover, though quite large tonnages have been booked in the past several weeks from Asia, the new increased offers are still considered reasonable by Turkish buyers. However, they are still pushing for discounts given the longer lead time compared to the Turkish domestic market.
In the import segment, mostly Asian mills are offering HRC to Turkey. The lowest HRC price from India is at $610/mt CFR, $10/mt down from last week. South Korea is at $630-640/mt CFR after selling 50,000-60,000 mt at $605-625/mt CFR over the past 15 days. China is in the market with $620/mt CFR for Q195 quality, having returned from its holiday. Indonesia, which is a rare supplier to Turkey, is offering at $660/mt CFR for November-December deliveries, marking the highest import price level for now. A supplier from Japan, which traded 25,000 mt last week at $610/mt CFR as well as to many other international outlets, is currently out of the market.
Aside from Asia, a non-sanctioned Russian mill is offering $650/mt CFR for HRC to Turkey, sources report. Another seller, based in the Baltic region of Russia, is reported to be in negotiations at $580-590/mt CFR, but the deals have not been confirmed by the time of publication.
Currently, official local HRC prices in Turkey are at $700-730/mt ex-works, the same as at the end of last week. However, some buyers report $680-685/mt ex-works is available from some mills for medium-sized lots, while large customers report their targets are not higher than $660-670/mt ex-works. “Their order books are not filled. Exports are slow and locally a lot of buyers chose to restock on the import side,” a Turkish buyer said.