The market situation in Turkey’s HRC market has been rather quiet this week, with prices remaining at high levels and with some suppliers adjusting their official offers according to their views on the market trends. While import HRC prices from China have registered a slight decline on average, local HRC prices in Turkey have inched up, mainly based on the fact that Asian import offers are not quite workable in Turkey. Still, Turkish importers are giving preference to HRC of nearby origins.
Ex-China HRC import offers to Turkey for Q195 3mm and up material have been hovering at around $505-520/mt CFR depending on the trader for large cargoes and for October shipments, down from $515-520/mt CFR seen last week. No deals have been reported since the lead time is quite long, but, according some sellers, the bids, though rare, have inched up $5/mt to $495-500/mt CFR.
Instead, some interest has been seen in ex-Black Sea material, particularly from Russia. According to sources, one of the Russian mills has proceeded to sell HRC for October shipments, having closed September sales. The prices have remained relatively stable at $510-515/mt CFR for the non-sanctioned material. The sanctioned material has been on offer at $485-490/mt CFR for October production, up from $470/mt CFR in the previous round of sales.
Local HRC prices in Turkey have been mildly supported by the high import offers from China, which have let the mills increase their official indications for local customers by $5-10/mt to $560-570/mt ex-works. Some Turkish producers have started offering for October deliveries, while indicating that they are not in a rush to sell at least for now.
HRC export offers from Turkey have increased from $530-550/mt to $550-560/mt FOB, mainly in view of the absence of business with most of the EU buyers being on holiday. Still, it is believed that discounts of around $10-15/mt may be on the table in the case of serious orders.
