Flat steel prices in Turkey have been affected by the minimal activity in the local market and the rather depressing situation as regards exports, particularly to the EU. However, while in the HRC segment mills have reduced prices to the pre-holiday levels, Turkey’s coated and cold rolled steel suppliers have been trying to maintain prices unchanged. Still, discounts are possible for decent volumes and serious buyers. Chinese HRC prices are still at the most attractive levels, but Turkish buyers have chosen to restock with Egyptian and Russian HRC due to their shorter lead times.
Domestic offers for HRC in Turkey have regressed to the pre-holiday levels of $550-565/mt ex-works, while earlier the mills were targeting $560-570/mt ex-works. The material is available for end of February and March deliveries. As regards exports, official offers are at $535-545/mt FOB, while the workable levels are at $520-525/mt FOB in the rare deals reported to southern EU destinations, but many bids are still below $500/mt FOB, sellers say.
Import offers from China have been relatively stable week on week at $480-484/mt CFR for large volumes of Q195 HRC of 3 mm and higher to be shipped in March. Sources report that non-VAT offers might be $5-10/mt lower. However, no deals have been reported. Instead, some re-rollers have chosen to restock with Egyptian material at $552/mt CFR for a total of 20,000-25,000 mt, SteelOrbis has learned. In addition, a Russian mill has sold around 20,000-30,000 mt of HRC lately to Turkey at around $510/mt CFR and maybe slightly above, sources reported.
Turkey’s re-rollers have continued to price their coated and cold rolled materials according to their sales positions. Most of them have maintained the levels of last week, while some are ready to offer discounts in order to boost sales. Local 0.5 mm Z100 HDG is at $760-800/mt ex-works, down $10/mt on the lower end, while as regards exports, where demand has been quite slow, the levels are at $720-740/mt FOB. Turkey’s PPGI is relatively stable week on week at $920-930/mt ex-works for the local market and at $890-920/mt FOB for the export markets. Turkey’s CRC is now offered at $670-700/mt ex-works, versus $680-700/mt ex-works earlier, while overseas markets have been receiving offers at $630-650/mt FOB, SteelOrbis has learned.