This week, the Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) market has witnessed a rebound in offers from China, which has been dominating the country’s import segment for a while now. However, most buyers are not ready to make purchases, thinking that the import price uptrend should be a temporary one, and also citing the rather weak domestic HRC market in Turkey.
Currently, most Chinese HRC Q195 grade offers are being reported at $583-585/mt CFR, up around $15/mt over the past week, with the potential for the price to be a few dollars lower for a sizeable order. According to sources, one trader has offered $575-577/mt CFR this week and the level is considered by many to be a non-VAT price. However, there does not seem to be many takers at these levels and, according to sources, some Turkish re-rollers have even voiced bids at $555-560/mt CFR, which are certainly not acceptable.
Aside from China, Turkey has been receiving offers from Egypt at $610-620/mt FOB with freight estimated at $20-23/mt depending on the region and tonnage, which is too high for Turkey at the moment.
In the domestic market, Turkey’s HRC is at $610-625/mt ex-works base with some rumors discussed in the market about large orders concluded this week at close to $600/mt ex-works. “Business is quite slow as there is not enough demand and, while exports are quiet, domestically we have overcapacity now with the new volumes coming up,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
