Turkey’s hot rolled coil (HRC) pricing has been relatively stable over the past week, with only slight discounts provided since the mills are trying to resist the pressure on prices. Chinese offers have continued to fluctuate early this week and some prices have attracted a certain amount of interest among Turkish buyers. In the meantime, the prices for coated and cold rolled coils (CRC) have softened a little since mid-October.
Currently, Turkish HRC is available in the local market at $630-650/mt ex-works, down $10/mt on the upper end from last week, which had not been workable anyway. There has been information about a sale to a large customer at $620/mt ex-works effective, but it has not been confirmed by the time of publication. As regards exports, the estimated HRC price level is at $580-600/mt ex-works depending on the supplier and the buyer. In the import segment, China first dropped offers to $550-555/mt CFR for Q195 HRC of 3 mm and higher, but later increased them by $5/mt.
In the coated steel market, Turkey’s base HDG prices are at $770-810/mt ex-works, down $10/mt over the past week. Moreover, levels $10/mt lower are also considered workable for serious bidders. In the PPGI segment, prices have mainly stabilized at $890-930/mt ex-works and higher, mainly due to limited available capacity. Turkey’s tinplate base prices are at $880-920/mt ex-works depending on the supplier.
Domestic CRC prices in Turkey are at $715-730/mt ex-works, down from $720-740/mt ex-works offered early last week. In the export segment, the lowest reported offer stands at $700/mt FOB, while in the import market the indications from both South Korea and Russia have been voiced at $690/mt CFR, down $10/mt from mid-month.