Frustratingly slow local and export demand, falling hot rolled coil (HRC) and scrap prices, inflation and the unstable currency, and Turkey's overall economic difficulties have continued to impact the flats trade in the retail market. A majority of domestic flat steel traders are unable to break the downtrend in their own sales, and, in light of this, Turkish stockists have been compelled to give further discounts in their spot offerings.
“To be honest, …under these conditions, the market imbalance, no matter how much we cut the prices, keeps buyers back. Even if demand rebounds, I don't believe our demand will be the same as it was before the coronavirus, and so we will have to accept that our new demand from now on will be lower and in smaller tonnages. Flat steel sellers have certain capacities and must sell a particular amount every month, and, because we are unable to do so, we have entered times where we will face financial difficulties,” a source told SteelOrbis.
Currently, workable domestic hot rolled sheets (HRS) prices have settled at $750-820/mt ex-warehouse, down $30-50/mt over the past week. In addition to this, a few traders are trying to sell at around $840-850/mt ex-warehouse, though with not much luck.
In contrast, the cold rolled sheet (CRS) market has remained stable; this week, the majority of traders are offering prices in the range of $900-950/mt ex-warehouse. Some suppliers are still attempting to apply larger reductions and sell for $850-890/mt ex-warehouse, but these discounts are only available for large-tonnage deals.
