During the past week, HRC producers in Turkey have maintained the higher price levels, which they had announced while China was off on holiday, and their prices have been supported this week by the stronger prices from Chinese suppliers after the holiday. In addition, scrap prices have remained also rather high and, overall, together with the relatively positive situation in Europe and moderate demand locally, Turkish HRC prices have been sustained. The number of import offers is still low in terms of the variety of origins, with only China and Russia offering actively.
Local HRC prices for Turkish HRC for April-May deliveries are settled at $580-600/mt ex-works depending on the supplier and the sales volume. According to sources, certain lots have recently been sold at $575-580/mt ex-works, and the official indications have increased by $5-10/mt versus sales levels. As regards exports, the targets are at $580-590/mt FOB and up to $600/mt FOB, all for third quarter deliveries in the case of sales to Europe. However overall, Turkey can still offer for May shipment.
China returned from the holiday initially with $498-510/mt CFR offers for May shipments, which were later revised to $510-515/mt CFR due the slight increase in futures prices and the strength of the yuan against the US dollar. According to sources, buyers, if any, would be targeting something closer to $490/mt CFR, which is not yet the case for Chinese suppliers.
An Egyptian mill is currently out of the market, following strong HRC sales to the EU and the UK closed in the past 10-15 days. Turkey expects both Egypt and Malaysia, being the two duty-free origins, to restart offering to Turkey for May shipment at no less than $580-590/mt CFR, citing the uptrend in the local Turkish market seen during the month.
Sanctioned Russian material is on offer for March-April shipment to Turkey at $480/mt CFR, while non-sanctioned HRC from Russia is at $515-520/mt CFR, up $5-10/mt from the previous level. “China is not aggressive and Russia is the closest source which definitely has an attractive price compared to Egypt, for instance,” a HRC buyer in Turkey told SteelOrbis. As a result, deals for Russian HRC are expected to be closed in Turkey shortly.