The significant collapse in prices in the retail flat steel market in Turkey witnessed over the past several weeks has continued unabated. Lower prices from mills, the uncertain situation in the scrap segment, sluggish demand and overall economic difficulties continue to weigh on stockists, making them decrease their offers to the local market further.
Currently, local traders are still struggling to sell their stocks for June and early July, while their buyers are pushing for lower levels, seeing a market downturn. Since such a situation is not typical, traders are cautious in their bookings from mills as they are trying to avoid piling up stocks and to minimize the risks of losing profits.
On the other hand, some traders share a certain optimism regarding a demand revival after the holidays and some expect maintenance to be carried out by some local flats producers. Generally, business activity is expected to slow down a bit in the first half of July and some sources expect it will be followed by a certain demand recovery, which will help to at least stabilize prices.
By the end of the current week, the workable domestic hot rolled sheets (HRS) prices have settled at $740-780/mt ex-warehouse, down by $10-40/mt since last Friday. In the cold rolled sheet segment, a majority of traders are at around $850-900/mt ex-warehouse, versus $900-950/mt ex-warehouse seen last week. Some traders are attempting to sell at around $930-935/mt ex-warehouse, sources say.
