Turkey’s hot rolled coil (HRC) market remains extremely weak with hardly any serious business taking place, taking into account the significant slowdown in activities on the end-users’ side. As a result, import offers have hit a new low in Turkey, with not much feedback from the customers. General expectation remains bearish.
Official offers for small coils from Ukraine have been voiced at $410/mt CFR Turkey, down $50/mt from the offer price early last week. Still, the buyers assess the workable level at least $15-20/mt lower than that, SteelOrbis understands. Russia’s suppliers have been testing the market with $415/mt CFR for big coils, with no bids reported. “Russian sellers are in trouble as their buyers in Turkey are re-rollers which currently cannot sell and which also are halting or slowing down their production. There might be someone to average out the feedstock price, but I doubt even $400/mt CFR will work,” a trader said.
Higher offers are also seen in Turkey’s import HRC market. According to sources, a EU-based seller has been offering $425/mt CFR, $15/mt down from last week. Russia’s Baltic region-based supplier has been quoting €400/mt CFR or around $435/mt CFR, with no deals closed. Offers from some Indian mills have been reported at $440-443/mt CFR, while some of them, according to sources, have been discussing as low as $410/mt CFR. South Korea has been out of the market with $460/mt CFR and above as an indication, SteelOrbis understands.