As the year nears its end, the business activity in the Turkish hot-rolled coil (HRC) market has been slowing down. The domestic offers have somewhat increased over the week, taking into account a certain amount of deals for small and medium lots closed since the past week. In the import segment, there has been certain interest in ex-Russia material, while ex-Asia offers mainly remain on the higher side.
Some of the Russian mills have started selling for February production of HRC to Turkey. In fact, the sanctioned producer has managed to sell around 30,000-35,000 mt of HRC to Turkey recently at $610/mt CFR, while the January tonnages were booked by the same mill at $570-590/mt CFR in the previous weeks. The producer is in negotiation for another 30,000-35,000 mt at the similar price level. Another Russian mill is not yet in the market with February lots and is expected to have around 30,000-40,000 mt maximum to sell. The indicative price for these volume is expected to be around $640/mt CFR Turkey.
Asian suppliers are also in the market, but their prices are on the higher side. India is in the market at $650-660/mt CFR, up $10/mt from the lower end compared to last week. Around 15 days ago Turkey booked $635-638/mt CFR from India. China has been offering SAE1006 material at $640-645/mt CFR through a large trader and for up to 40,000-50,000 mt volumes for February shipment. HRC of Q195 grade for the same lots is available at $630-635/mt CFR and at $650-655/mt CFR for 10,000-15,000 mt cargoes.
The domestic HRC prices in Turkey are now standing at $680-710/mt ex-works depending on the supplier and its sales portfolio. Some of the mills have already started selling for February deliveries and some small deals were closed at $675-680/mt ex-works. Previously, medium-sized lots have been booked at $665-670/mt ex-works, SteelOrbis has learned.
