Turkey’s hot rolled coil (HRC) exporters have been rather active in the past two weeks, with deals closed to various destinations.
According to sources, one producer has sold 20,000 mt of HRC to South Africa at $520/mt FOB base. Another mill has closed small lots to Tunisia and Morocco at $515/mt FOB, SteelOrbis has learned.
The European Union has been also active in purchases from Turkey, taking into account the somewhat limited allocation in the local markets in Europe and uncompetitive offers from Asia. According to sources, 15,000-20,000 mt were traded to Spain at $525-527/mt FOB and small lots were sold to Italy at $525/mt FOB, market insiders state. “India is offering around €20-30/mt higher than Turkey and this gap makes the Turkish price attractive even despite the anticipated AD rate,” a trader said.
Currently, there are hardly any offers from Turkey below $520-525/mt FOB and the mills are in the market to sell for January production and shipments.