Aggressive hot-rolled coil (HRC) offers coming from non-regular destinations have brought down the mood in the Turkish market. However, local and CIS-based sellers are not in a rush to provide huge discounts for now as they can afford to wait, being more or less sold out.
According to sources, ex-China cargoes have been sold to Turkey recently at $840-855/mt CFR. Two cargoes have been rumored as sold although one of the reported buyers has denied the purchase. The sales are said to be for February shipment, and so market players mainly agree these are futures sales as it is too risky for now to make a spot booking with such a lead time.
In addition, in late October two ex-Brazil HRC cargoes were sold to Turkey at $890-895/mt CFR, for 30,000 mt each.
Although most market players do not foresee that sales from China to Turkey are going to become regular, still the mood has weakened, specifically affecting ex-CIS offers. The latest deals from Ukraine have been closed at $860-870/mt CFR depending on the coil weight, while ex-Russia sellers sold some limited volumes at $900-910/mt CFR.
Local prices for HRC in Turkey have not changed much and the realistic level is estimated at $915-925/mt ex-works, while the official offers are at up to $930-940/mt ex-works, similar to last week.
