Insufficient demand, unstable local hot rolled coil (HRC) pricing which prevents traders from breaking the downtrend in their own sales, consistently declining scrap prices, and the unpredictable currency situation have compelled Turkish stockists to remain flexible in their spot offerings. In addition, Russia’s aggressive sales of HRC to Turkey have greatly impacted retail prices for sheets and traders are concerned regarding the future trend.
“There are many reasons why the prices are in this situation right now. The main one is the decrease in HRC prices, while also there are aggressive imports from Russia. In addition, scrap prices are decreasing continuously and buying activities are day by day getting worse because of the inflation in Turkey and the unstable currency situation. With these considerations, we estimate that workable pricing [for sheets] will be around $740-750/mt ex-warehouse until the end of June,” a source told SteelOrbis.
By the end of the current week, the workable domestic hot rolled sheets (HRS) prices stand at $840-885/mt ex-warehouse, down by $10-15/mt since last Friday. Some of the medium-size traders are trying to offer $940/mt ex-warehouse, which they know is a higher level and not workable. Also, same traders say that for large orders they may grant a $50/mt discount. However, even with such a policy it is hard to find a buyer and most probably the higher-priced official offers will have to follow the general market levels.
"We are trying to catch prices for hot rolled sheets day by day since they are falling very rapidly and demand is still extremely low, and it is because we currently have a significant inflation problem in Turkey, which causes buyers to think twice about making purchases." As a result, we began looking for new export destinations. Therefore, at least in terms of exports, this week was positive since we sold to South Africa, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Israel, but this does not imply that there will be permanent and consistent sales, so the local market must be regained soon," a pipe-maker told SteelOrbis.
In the cold rolled sheet (CRS) market, most traders are offering at around $950-995/mt ex-warehouse, versus $970-1,000/mt ex-warehouse seen last week. Some smaller sellers and re-rollers have reportedly been selling aggressively at $900-920/mt ex-warehouse this week. According to some sources, these suppliers may be in a position to sell cheaply in order to get rid of excessive stocks, which were most probably booked a long time ago.
