The Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) market remains week in terms of business activity, given the low demand from the consuming industries which are still having trouble selling their own products. As a result, a lot of HRC buyers are not so eager to actively restock and those ready to buy are putting pressure on prices. The cautious optimism seen in the past 10-15 days, resulting from China withdrawing its aggressive offers, now seems to have disappeared, amid extremely low sales from Russia. These were followed by a downturn in local Turkish HRC prices and, moreover, some foreign sellers have had to drop their offers somewhat closer to the general workable levels.
According to sources, one Russian mill sold around 20,000-30,000 mt of HRC to Turkey at $520-535/mt CFF, marking the lowest price level in the region. Although nowadays Russia is aiming for at least $560-570/mt CFR, most Turkish buyers still believe the sanctioned mill may still sell at low levels. China has mainly been quoting $570-580/mt CFR in line with last week’s price, but some of the large buyers have reported $565/mt CFR is available as a firm offer for Q195 quality. India, which was at a minimum of $590/mt CFR previously, has dropped its offers to $560-570/mt CFR this week, buyers report. Some market sources say this level is a bit low but not impossible. “India is having a hard time selling in Asia and lower prices may be seen here in Turkey, maybe due to the necessity to top up the cargo for the EU,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
Domestic HRC prices in Turkey are at $620-640/mt ex-works, which is almost in line with last week’s levels. Similar offers are heard for exports, which are not workable specifically in the EU markets due to aggressive ex-Asia offers.
