Turkey's flat steel spot market has weakened further this week, as persistent economic pressure, tight liquidity and poor end-user demand continue to restrict purchasing activity. The summer slowdown has added to the already difficult market conditions, leaving traders with little choice but to reduce their quotations in an attempt to generate sales. While some suppliers are still trying to maintain higher price levels, the downward movement has become increasingly difficult to resist, with small and medium-sized traders adopting more aggressive sales strategies. Nevertheless, even the growing availability of discounted material has failed to attract buyers, leaving the market outlook increasingly weak and bleak.
“Both buyers and sellers are under serious financial pressure, so the market has very little room to move. The summer slowdown has only made an already difficult situation worse. Smaller traders are cutting prices more aggressively to generate business, but even these lower offers are attracting very little interest,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
As a result, hot rolled sheet prices have declined to around $600-640/mt ex-warehouse this week, compared to $620-645/mt ex-warehouse last week.
Cold rolled sheet prices have also fallen to around $710-745/mt ex-warehouse, down from $720-750/mt ex-warehouse last week. In addition, some traders are reportedly offering material at around $690-700/mt ex-warehouse, bringing their quotations close to domestic producers' levels. However, market participants indicate that even these heavily discounted offers have generated very few inquiries, underlining the depth of the current demand weakness.
