Prices still decline in Turkish flats market as demand situation remains poor

In the Turkish flat steel market, the price decreases seen in recent weeks have continued and new price levels have started to find acceptance. While stagnant demand is mentioned as the main reason for the price declines, most of the market players that have been interviewed said that end-user demand has consistently fallen short of the desired levels since the start of this year.
 
With the recovery of end-user demand in the last period of the first quarter, the Turkish flats market experienced a more active period, with price levels indicating some increase. However, this recovery of demand did not last long. As a result, local market players that had increased their inventory levels started to soften their prices under the influence of the decrease of demand. In the most recent period, some significant price decreases have been seen due to the further weakening of end-user demand.
 
The Turkish flat steel market appears to be entering a new phase with local integrated flat steel producer Erdemir, which has an important influence on the Turkish market, announcing it will no longer issue base prices for flat products through its website. For now, the local market is wondering how Erdemir will return to orders received and what price levels will be accepted.
 
In the local Turkish market, firms that want to melt their inventories may give aggressive offers, while other sellers do not want to reduce their prices. Thus, various price levels can be heard in the flat steel market.
 
As of this week, in the local Turkish flats market hot rolled product (2 mm) and cold rolled product (1-1.5 mm) prices are standing at the levels of $650-670/mt and $790-830/mt respectively. According to feedback from the local market, the weak trend of prices may continue unless end-user demand registers an improvement.