Turkish flats market players are currently trying to estimate the chances to increase prices, following the return of European suppliers with higher domestic offers. However, the demand for the hot rolled coil (HRC) remains relatively weak for now, though it may firm up on the back of expected limited supply and high production costs on the mills’ side. In the meantime, Turkey’s import segment for HRC and steel slab is still dominated by Russia, while offers from Asian sellers are either not competitive or not being voiced at all.
HRC producers in Turkey have been trying to raise their domestic prices back up to $640-660/mt ex-works in official offers for end of September-October deliveries, versus the most recent workable levels of $610-630/mt ex-works, valid last week. Although business activity is still slow, some mills resist going below $650/mt ex-works due to increased costs and are even considering production cuts for October, unless the market picks up. As regards exports, the lowest reported HRC price from Turkey is at $625-635/mt FOB, while some suppliers are targeting $650/mt FOB. Small sales have reportedly been closed to Algeria, while the EU import pricing is still rather unclear.
In the import segment, offers from Russia prevail. One of the Russian mills is targeting a $20/mt increase over the week to $570/mt FOB or around $610-620/mt CFR for October shipments. Another supplier from Russia has traded small lots at around $610/mt CFR and slightly above. The third mill has been ready to discuss $570-575/mt CFR levels with no actual business done. Moreover, the sale of a medium-sized lot rumoured as closed by a Russian non-sanctioned mill was denied by the supposed seller by the time of publication. It is also worth mentioning that most Russian mills report their volumes for September production are limited due to the recently livelier domestic market. “The local market is high and there are not many tonnages available for exports,” one of the producers told SteelOrbis. Recently, local hot rolled sheets have been traded in Russia at $715-745/mt (RUB 52,000-54,000/mt) CPT, while the export prices for HRC from the same mills are estimated at $525-540/mt FOB as relatively workable levels and at around $570/mt FOB from some mills as a price idea, at least for now.
Russian mills are also the only ones present in the Turkish slab market, mainly as their aggressive offers leave few chances for alternative suppliers to sell. Another 40,000 mt lot of slabs has been recently sold from Russia to Turkey at $470/mt CFR, in line with the deals done in the first half of August. As a result, the gap between local HRC and import slab prices in Turkey is around $180/mt.