Turkish mills are expected to maintain their HRC price positions unchanged this week since it is a short one due to the holiday, though demand remains on the quiet side. Local buyers are trying to avoid piling up excessive stocks. In the meantime, demand in the European market is also rather quiet and only inquiries for small and medium-sized volumes are heard. Import HRC offers, in the meantime, have inched down in Turkey.
China has returned from its holiday with most offers at around $468-471/mt CFR for August shipments, with $465/mt CFR also considered possible. The offers are for Q195 HRC of 3 mm and higher. The latest deal reported from China was closed at $470/mt CFR to a Turkish re-roller.
Egypt is in the market with $552/mt CFR offers for July shipments, down $8/mt over the past week, with no sizeable fresh sales reported in the market. Malaysia, which is another duty-free HRC origin in Turkey, is not in the market with fresh offers, while buyers’ price ideas are at around $525-530/mt CFR. The latest deals for Malaysian material were concluded at around $550/mt CFR in the second half of May.
Russian material has also been sold to Turkey. A non-sanctioned mill, according to sources, has traded around 30,000-35,000 mt of HRC for July shipment at $480-490/mt CFR, down from the initial offers at $490-500/mt CFR.
Local HRC offers in Turkey are stable at $550-565/mt ex-works base for July-August deliveries, while official export offers are at $540-545/mt FOB with $5-10/mt discounts considered achievable in the case of a sizeable order and a firm bid, SteelOrbis understands.
