Due the fluctuations in Chinese hot rolled coil (HRC) prices, which remain high, as well as the increasing trend of scrap prices, Turkish HRC mills have increased their offers. As a result of the acceptance of the mills’ increased prices, Turkish flat steel spot traders have chosen to increase their offers compared to last week. Market participants, however, claim that trade is not as lively as it was last week and that it has begun to slow down, which raises concerns sellers for the coming weeks.
“Increases in prices have persisted, but we are not optimistic since demand has declined over the past week. So, if this week concludes like this, I believe price falls will be unavoidable next week due to the sluggish demand,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
Over the past week, workable domestic hot rolled sheet prices have been quoted at $650-660/mt ex-warehouse, up from $630-645/mt ex-warehouse.
Similarly, in the cold rolled sheet market, the majority of traders have reported increases in prices to $750-790/mt ex-warehouse, against $750-770/mt ex-warehouse last week. According to the sources, while bigger traders have chosen to increase offers by $20/mt to $790/mt ex-warehouse, smaller and medium-sized traders have preferred to remain at around $750-770/mt ex-warehouse.
Currently, mills’ prices for hot rolled coil and cold rolled coil stand at $615-630/mt ex-works and $725-740/mt ex-works, respectively.
