Turkey’s hot rolled coil (HRC) market has not experienced much change over the past week in terms of demand and price trends. Domestic sales continue and the mills are reported to be moving closer to selling out their November volumes, while prices in most cases have not moved much due to the lack of serious price changes in the import scrap segment and for import slab. As for exports, however, some suppliers may be a little more aggressive in non-EU destinations, sources report.
In the domestic market in Turkey, HRC indications have mainly remained at $650-680/mt ex-works, in line with the previous week. Sources report there are some volumes still available for November deliveries, while most fresh offers are already for December. In the export segment, HRC offers for non-European destinations vary from $600-615/mt FOB to $620-630/mt FOB depending on the mills. However, bids from potential buyers are lower for now. For Europe, Turkey is offering $650/mt FOB minimum, aiming to keep offers to this destination more or less in line with domestic prices.
The number of HRC import offers in the Turkish market has remained scarce, although competition has tightened somewhat. China’s offers have remained relatively stable at $580-590/mt CFR for November shipments, while hardly any serious bid has been reported this week. However, a number of market sources report the latest offers from South Korea for HRC at around $585-590/mt CFR, which is a decrease from $610-615/mt CFR indications seen earlier in September. Many players view such a development as not being a very positive sign for the market. “If South Korea needs to sell and if it will trade at $580/mt CFR, it means China will have a hard time selling at above $560/mt,” a source told SteelOrbis.