Over the past week, prices in the local Iranian hot rolled coil (HRC) market have moved up by $35/mt on average to $710-750/mt ex-warehouse, including nine percent VAT, due to the tight availability of HRC exports from the CIS, the uptrend of flat steel prices in the global market and the weakening of the Iranian rial against the US dollar. Market sources state that the upward trend of domestic HRC prices in Iran has prompted buyers to step up their inquiries for import HRC.