Turkey’s hot-rolled coil (HRC) buyers have finally shown a decent interest in imports from China, but this time from the side of pipe-makers and not re-rollers. In fact, there is hardly any other HRC origin represented in Turkey nowadays, at least not at the workable prices. Therefore, some of the buyers have considered Chinese prices acceptable against the domestic levels in Turkey.
According to sources, Turkey has booked up to 40,000 mt of HRC from China from the end of the past week and the effective price range for these is reported at around $600-605/mt CFR. The cargoes are for October shipments and are booked for the more complicated pipe-making breakdowns, which include large percentage of thin gauge and various widths, but also higher steel grades. Some of the sources calculate the mentioned effective deal prices to around $585-598/mt CFR. “It is a different story and it is hard and maybe not logical to compare these [deals] in terms of a base price,” a trader said. “Also it is for full export pipe production so there is no duty for the feedstock therefore the $600/mt CFR paid price looks good against Turkish local HRC levels,” he added.
In addition to import bookings from China, Turkish pipe-makers have also booked some volumes this week in the domestic market at around $650-660/mt ex-works, therefore making a lower average with the lower import price. The local HRC offers in Turkey are now considered at $660-670/mt ex-works as per the realistic general indications, though higher levels are also heard in the market.
In the meantime, Turkish re-rollers still receive offers for regular Q195 3 mm and up material from China at $580-585/mt CFR and consider $560/mt CFR levels workable, which is not accepted by the sellers.
