The Turkish domestic flats market which has been stagnant for a while may become active with the price hike announced by Erdemir on June 13, 2007. Erdemir's price hike of $15/mt for all products (except for galvanized material) may lead to increased interest in imported materials in the Turkish domestic market.
HRC offers ex-Ukrainian mill Ilyich, which were at $540-545/mt CFR in previous weeks, are now being offered at $545-550/mt CFR Turkey for late July shipment.. After Erdemir's latest price hike, this offer level may increase further.
Since the Russian producers have announced their prices, we expect the Ukrainian producers to make their price announcements in the coming weeks. HRC offers ex-Russian producer Severstal are at $655/mt CFR Turkey for late September shipment. In addition, Severstal's CRC offers are at $715/mt CFR Turkey, also for late September shipment. It seems that sales will be difficult for Turkey at these levels. However, after firm bids are collected, if the required levels are achieved, sales will be concluded at these levels.
Russian steelmaker MMK is offering hot rolled coils at $615/mt CFR Turkey for late August shipments. On the other hand, the producer is offering cold rolled coils at $675/mt CFR Turkey, also for late August shipments. It will be interesting to see how Erdemir's price hike will affect MMK's sales. The level of possible real sales by MMK will become obvious in the coming weeks.
Stagnation has continued in the Italian and southern European domestic markets this week as well. The abundance of material at the service centers and the slowdown in end-user purchases are responsible for this stagnation. HRC offers ex-Libya are at €500-510 FOT in the Italian domestic market. On the other hand, HRC offers ex-Egypt are at €490-495 FOT in this market.