Import hot rolled coil prices (HRC) have continued to increase rapidly in Turkey this week as CIS-based suppliers have been aiming to take advantage of sufficient demand, the generally limited allocation in the market and the overall supportive business conditions.
Russia’s MMK has settled for now at $605-610/mt CFR for February production while earlier the producer was considering to sell at around $580/mt CFR. According to sources, the highest and most recent bids have been received at $590/mt CFR.
Ukraine’s Metinvest, according to some buyers, is now targeting $600/mt CFR for small coils and $610/mt CFR for big coils , after having traded some volumes earlier at $570-580/mt CFR and $580/mt CFR or slightly above, respectively. The most recent deals were done for a total of around 8,000-10,000 mt, SteelOrbis understands. The producer is in the market to sell for January-February rolling. Severstal may consider offering to Turkey again, but the situation will largely depend on the EU market where local HRC prices have recently increased. The latest deal prices by Severstal, as was reported earlier, were done at $560/mt FOB Baltic Sea. No official offers have been reported from NLMK, although some market sources assume the mill has been discussing with the market something close to $610-615/mt CFR
In the local market in Turkey, some mills have started offering $625/mt ex-works, while some are ready to deal at $600/mt ex-works. “Nothing lower than that seems possible anymore. The demand is good. A lot of people need to restock, but I would say that such a rapid price increase is dangerous,” a local buyer told SteelOrbis.
