Silence persists in the Turkish hot-rolled coil (HRC) market as neither buyers nor sellers are in a rush to boost negotiations, following the rather active business seen in the previous several weeks. The sides prefer to watch the market developments and are waiting to see the situation after the election. For now, domestic HRC prices have remained stable, while the number of the import offers has increased, indicating a price upturn.
Particularly, most of the ex-China HRC offers have been reported at $730-740/mt CFR for May shipments, up by around $10-15/mt over the week. Some sources believe $720/mt CFR levels are still possible, but there are not many takers just yet due to the rather long delivery term. Still, China’s offers remain the lowest in the market, while other suppliers have opened their prices at a rather high level, partly as they remain focused on the more marginal European market.
According to sources, the suppliers from India are in the market with $820-830/mt CFR for May shipments, up by $30-40/mt over two weeks. South Korea is offering at $790-800/mt CFR, while Japan and Vietnam are ready to sell lower - $760-780/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned. Ex-Egypt offers are traditionally higher, taking into account it is a duty-free origin. The supplier’s offer has been reported at $830-840/mt CFR.
Domestic HRC offers in Turkey have remained at $850-870/mt ex-works and up to $880/mt ex-works. The sellers are in the market to trade for June deliveries, although the buyers believe that certain volumes for end-of-May delivery may still be allocated.
