Demand in the local Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) market has continued to decline over the past week, remaining at low levels. Due to the uncertainty surrounding import HRC price offers from the CIS region to Turkey, with no offers from the region heard during the past week, Turkish flat steel producers did not decrease their prices sharply but have just reduced them slightly instead, against the backdrop of expectations of decreases in global HRC prices. Furthermore, Chinese flat steel prices have continued to trend down over the past week, boosting the abovementioned expectations. As a result, Turkish steel producers’ HRC offers to their domestic market have declined by $20/mt week on week to $530-550/mt ex-works.
Meanwhile, demand has remained slack in the Turkish HRC spot market in which prices have softened further. With the expectations that producers’ prices will decrease in the coming period, buyers have continue to postpone their HRC bookings from the spot market. While HRC prices given by traders in the Eregli region have decreased by $15/mt, hot rolled pickled and oiled coil (HR P&O) prices from traders in the region have decreased by $20/mt, both week on week. Meanwhile, HRC quotations from traders in the Gebze region have declined by $45/mt week on week, while HR P&O prices from traders in the region have decreased by $30/mt and 1.5 mm of hot rolled coil prices have declined by $25/mt week on week.
The domestic sales prices of traders for local and imported hot rolled flat steel products in the Eregli and Gebze regions of Turkey are as follows:
Product |
Price ($/mt) |
|
Eregli |
Gebze |
|
2-12 mm HRC |
500-530 |
500-550 |
1.5 mm HRS |
540-570 |
550-600 |
2-12 mm HRC (for large tonnages) |
460-510 |
|
3-12 mm HR P&O |
560-580 |
560-600 |
The above prices are ex-warehouse and for advance payments, exclusive of 18 percent VAT.