The market sentiments for Turkish hot rolled coils (HRC) are currently mixed as prices are under the influence of several factors. One them is the declining import scrap price, following a period of relative stability. Another is the decline in import HRC prices from China due to the slump in futures prices in China. In addition, the announced dumping margins for HRC imports from China, and also from Russia, India and Japan, are contributing to buyers’ negativestance.
In the meantime, most sources report an attempt by Turkish HRC producers to slightly raise their domestic offers, based on limited allocation of September rolling HRC and also the mixed situation in the import segment. The current official offers are at $580-585/mt ex-works base, versus $570-580/mt ex-works available last week.
Import offers from China have rolled back to $525-530/mt CFR for end-of-September and October shipments, from $530-535/mt CFR offered earlier. Moreover, some buyers report there are also offers from certain traders at $520/mt CFR for Q195 material in 45,000 mt lots.
Dumping margins have been announced this week by the Turkish government, with the definitive measures expected to be announced later. According to sources, the disclosed rates of 11.65-48.49 percent depending on the country and the producer are not in force yet. Many do not expect any significant change even though the percentages are large, counting on the inward processing regime in Turkey. “China would still be the lowest price in the market and in theory we [Turkey] need to have solid pipe, coated and cold rolled steel exports so that there is no duty to pay. If AD applied to all main suppliers, then the rules of the game do not change much,” a market source told SteelOrbis.