Import flat steel buyers in Turkey have continued to postpone their purchases over the past week, while demand in the market has remained at low levels. Market sources state that demand has been negatively impacted by the uncertainty caused by the delay in confirming local election results in major cities. According to market sources, Turkish buyers are unwilling to restart import flat steel purchases without first gaining a clearer picture of the likely future trend of the Turkish lira-US dollar exchange rate after the final results of the election are announced, and so demand is not expected to revive in the coming days.
During the past week, ex-CIS flat steel offers to Turkey have remained stable, with ex-CIS hot rolled coil (HRC) and cold rolled coil (CRC) prices still standing at $520-540/mt CFR and $570-595/mt CFR, respectively.