Over the past week, prices in the local Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) market have continued to be characterized by softness, while Turkish producers have decreased their prices by $15/mt on the upper end to $620-635/mt ex-works. Adopting a cautious stance, Turkish buyers are unwilling to build up their inventories due to the approach of Ramadan beginning on May 15 and the snap election to be held on June 24, while they prefer to postpone their bookings expecting that demand will remain slack and that prices will continue their downward movement with the approach of the summer season.
Meanwhile, spot prices in Turkey have decreased by $10/mt in the last seven days, while demand in the spot market is still weak. The domestic sales prices of traders for local hot rolled flat steel products in the Eregli and Gebze regions of Turkey are as follows:
|
Product |
Price ($/mt) |
|
|
Eregli |
Gebze |
|
|
2-12 mm HRC |
640-650 |
650-660 |
|
1.5 mm HRS |
680-690 |
695-715 |
|
2-12 mm HRC (for large tonnages) |
|
630-640 |
|
3-12 mm HR P&O |
680-690 |
720-730 |