The Hot-rolled coil (HRC) market in Turkey has once again weakened and the estimated workable prices have decreased over the week, although not all of the domestic producers have announced official lower prices. The decline in scrap prices, low flats exports, and the negative situation in China are the main reasons for the current conditions. In turn, lower HRC has affected the local coated and cold-rolled coil (CRC) prices in a negative way.
While earlier this week the domestic HRC offers stood at $730-770/mt ex-works for July-August deliveries, by its end the market sources have started reporting $710-730/mt ex-works levels and even down to $700/mt ex-works. Some buyers, however, reported $750/mt ex-works is still on the table in some cases. “Smaller local buyers might have received even $790/mt from this or that mill, but for large buyers, the market is definitely closer to $700s,” a local source told SteelOrbis. On exports, the general level is around $720-740/mt FOB, down from the average of $750/mt FOB seen earlier. Moreover, certain traders are quite sure $10/mt lower levels are available.
Lower HRC prices and low demand have triggered new discounts in coated and CRC segments. Hot-dip galvanized (HDG) prices are at $870-920/mt ex-works base levels, $20/mt down from earlier this week. Local pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) offers are at around $980-1,010/mt ex-works, indicating a $10/mt decrease. In the meantime, the domestic CRC prices are at $860-900/mt ex-works officially versus $870-920/mt ex-works earlier this week. Still, a lot of market players, including buyers and sellers, agree that unofficially $20-30/mt lower deals are possible from the mentioned levels, taking into account the rather worrying market situation.
