Turkey’s domestic and export HRC priced have weakened substantially over the week, however, have not yet resulted in large scale sales as buyers remain cautious
The realistic level of local HRC tags in Turkey is set at $460/mt ex-works today, by $15-20/mt down over the week. However, some mills are still sticking to around $470/mt ex-works. Some ongoing negotiations were reported with big buyers targeting to close at not higher than $440-450/mt ex-works, SteelOrbis understands.
The HRC export prices from Turkey for November shipments have lost $5/mt over the week to $460-470/mt FOB, but are not considered workable on the key consuming destination – the EU. Bids are at $430-440/mt FOB, mainly amid competitive offers from Asia, reported at around $455-460/mt CFR. “There is no buyer in Europe at $460/mt FOB and for Q4 it seems the price situation will be even worse,” a trader told SteelOrbis. According to the sources, EU automotive and white goods buyers will decrease the volume of the feedstock purchases in the fourth quarter, which could trigger weaker market fundamentals. “This is due to low demand, overall figures, I am not sure for the quantity [to be cut], however, it was a bad year for all,” a source, familiar with the situation, said.
