According to market sources, demand in the Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) spot market is still quiet. With the sharp declines seen in HRC stock levels in Turkey's Eregli region, tightness of supply in the Turkish HRC spot market has been observed from time to time. Despite the increased political stability in Turkey after the November 1 general election, fluctuations in the US dollar-Turkish lira exchange rate have continued to be seen, slowing down transaction activity in the market. Amid ongoing cash flow problems and serious declines seen in stock levels, HRC prices in the Turkish spot market have remained unchanged.
On the other hand, Turkish producers' HRC prices have also remained unchanged in the given period at $320-330/mt ex-works for December production. Meanwhile, demand for Turkish producers' HRC is still weak. Buyers continue to expect a further decline in global HRC prices and so they are still putting pressure on both local and import HRC offers. However, Turkish buyers' firm bids have not been accepted by CIS-based sellers, who consider them to be on the low side. Accordingly, Turkish producers have maintained a firm stance on their prices.
The domestic sales prices of traders for local and imported hot rolled flat steel products in the Eregli and Gebze regions of Turkey are as follows:
Product |
Price ($/mt) |
|
Eregli |
Gebze |
|
2-12 mm HRC |
350-360 |
355-365 |
1.5 mm HRS |
390-400 |
385-395 |
2-12 mm HRC (for large volume sales) |
340-350 |
|
3-12 mm HR P&O |
410-420 |
425-430 |
The above prices are ex-warehouse and for advance payments, exclusive of 18 percent VAT.