Domestic hot rolled coil prices have continued to go up at a rapid pace in Turkey, driven by scarce availability, strong demand for downstream flat products, and high raw material price levels.
At the end of the current week, most local Turkish HRC producers have increased their domestic offers by $30/mt to $750-760/mt ex-works for March deliveries. Some sources report that one mill has been offering $770/mt ex-works for April production HRC. “It seems madness and manipulation, but the increase is justified. Coated and cold rolled demand is really good and the price difference with HRC is far above the usual levels,” a trader told SteelOrbis. “March production coated steel is almost gone, so we are now four months ahead in sales,” another source said.
In the import segment, Russia’s MMK is at $715/mt CFR in offers, up by $10/mt today, December 11, and up $20-25/mt since earlier this week. Some tonnage was sold at $695-700/mt CFR previously. NLMK is said to be in the market with $700/mt FOB while the average freight is at around $15/mt. The latest price information about Ukraine’s Metinvest sales has been reported at $695/mt CFR for big coils. However, sources believe the supplier should be in negotiations at at least $10/mt higher than that and that the level should be acceptable to buyers.
