Turkish mills have stepped down a bit from their earlier announced hot rolled coil (HRC) offers, but the discounts have been not sizeable enough to trigger demand neither in the local market nor in the export markets. The market is full of uncertainty resulting from the virus issue, the collapse of oil prices, and the scrap segment being silent. Accordingly, buyers prefer not to make hasty decisions at present.
In the domestic market, HRC for April-May deliveries is mainly available at $495-505/mt ex-works depending on the seller. However, sources say there is no serious taker, partly as the market situation is unclear, but also due to the fact that a lot of big buyers have restocked with imports from the CIS and Asia at $475-490/mt CFR over the past two weeks.
Official export prices for HRC from Turkey have slid to $495-505/mt FOB for May shipments. Higher indications, however, are still being voiced, but are not considered workable. Some producers say $485-490/mt FOB is achievable for large orders but there is no buyer in the market, from Europe specifically. In Italy, the virus spread is becoming a more and more serious issue and as business is almost stopped, and bids are very rare and are mainly at $450-460/mt FOB, Turkish sellers report. In Egypt, Turkish offers have been at around $510-515/mt CFR with around $15-20/mt of freight, while the buyer’s price idea has been far below the mentioned level. SteelOrbis has learned.
