Following a couple of weeks of relatively silent import demand due to the holiday period and overall market sluggishness, Turkish HRC buyers have shown some interest in imports. Along with the earlier reported deals from Russia, lots from Egypt and China have been booked recently at price levels considered realistic in the current market conditions.
According to sources, Turkey booked a 50,000 mt HRC lot from China for March shipment at $497/mt CFR for SAE1006 material and from a first-tier mill. Earlier this week, offers for re-rollers stood at $500-510/mt CFR depending on the supplier, while the pipe-making breakdowns were at $520-530/mt CFR, market players reported.
Along with China, according to sources, ex-Egypt HRC for March shipment has been sold to Turkey via a trader at close to $570/mt CFR for 15,000-20,000 mt. An Egyptian mill has returned to the market following several weeks of absence with around $550/mt FOB base in offers, SteelOrbis has learned.
Ex-Russia HRC offers from the sanctioned mills are at $470-485/mt CFR depending on the supplier and for February-March shipments. The non-sanctioned HRC mill from Russia, as SteelOrbis reported earlier this week, had traded a total of 30,000-35,000 mt of HRC for March shipment at $500-510/mt CFR and slightly below, with the latest offers reported at $510-515/mt CFR.
Local HRC producers in Turkey have been trying to slightly improve their price positions, citing costlier import scrap. As a result, HRC offers have increased by around $5/mt to $565-570/mt ex-works, and the upper end of the range is being voiced by more mills already. However, since demand in the domestic market has not improved, the level is not considered workable, at least for now.
