Prices rise slightly in Turkish flat rolled market, demand still slow

This week in the Turkish flat rolled market, we observed local traders making purchases to  replenish their inventories and producers filling their books for May orders. Although demand has not been strong, stockists are trying to push up their price levels. Many believe that the bottom has been reached in the flat rolled markets, while a slight uptrend in the raw material market has been recorded. In addition to these factors, now that the producers have filled their order books, stockists in the Turkish flat rolled market have enough reason to believe that the market trend will change direction.
 
This week, spot offers in the Turkish flat rolled market increased by $10/mt. For the time being, it is not certain that the trial runs for price hikes have been accepted by the buyers. However, it must be emphasized that the transaction volume in the market improved this week compared to previous weeks.
 
Local producers Erdemir and Colakoglu Metalurji have filled their order books this week for the month of May. May orders were sold  in the overall range of $710-750/mt ex-works. Erdemir concluded sales at $730/mt ex-works for hot rolled, and at $870-880/mt ex-works for cold rolled products of 1-1.5 mm thickness.
 
Colakoglu Metalurji prices for May rolling hot rolled coils are at $720/mt ex-works levels. The mill has not started to receive orders for June rolling yet.
 
In the Turkish domestic market, flat rolled sellers continue to offer hot rolled coils of 2 mm thickness at $730-760/mt ex-warehouse, and cold rolled coils of 1-2 mm at $870-910/mt ex-warehouse. Thin gauges of 0.4-0.7 mm cold rolled products are in the price range of $920-950/mt ex-warehouse, varying according to width specifications and quality.
 
Turkish flat rolled producers, having filled their order books for May production, are trying to push their price levels for June production upwards. Even though purchasing activity by traders in the market has revived somewhat, their sales activities are still slow; therefore, more time is needed to see if the producers' price increases for June will be accepted or not.