Market sentiment for hot rolled coils (HRC) has remained positive in Turkey, based on sufficient demand and producers’ limited allocation. This has resulted in another price surge in the local market in Turkey, while customers have preferred to restock on the import side where prices have been attractive.
According to sources, mills’ official offers in Turkey are nowadays set at $880-900/mt ex-works base for July deliveries, increasing by $20-30/mt over the past week. However, some buyers believe that the workable level is still closer to $860-870/mt ex-works. In the export segment, the offers are reported at $860-870/mt FOB base, but some EU-based customers say they have received indications at up to $900/mt FOB, similar to Turkey’s local market price.
While local HRC prices in Turkey have been trending upwards, buyers have found the import offers rather attractive and have decided to restock. According to sources, at least 50,000-60,000 mt of HRC were booked from India by re-rollers with deals last week closed at $820/mt CFR on average. The previous deals were reported as having been done in early March at $780/mt CFR, again by coated steel producers. Current offers from India have been heard in the market at $830-840/mt CFR depending on the supplier.
In addition, around 30,000 mt were reportedly booked to Turkey by Russia’s NLMK at $850/mt CFR for May production. In the meantime, offers from MMK are at $840-850/mt CFR with no considerable deals reported just yet. Ukraine’s Metinvest is in the market with $850/mt CFR for small coils, with the intention to increase offers further if the level is fixed in deals to Turkey.