Business activity has been slow this week in Turkey’s hot rolled coil (HRC) segment. Domestic buyers mainly restocked earlier, while foreign customers, mainly European ones, are cautious these days. In the import segment, no solid trade has been reported either.
Domestic hot rolled coil prices in Turkey have stabilized at $500-510/mt ex-works for April deliveries, while the main restocking was done over the past two weeks within $490-500/mt ex-works and at some lower levels for large orders by pipe-makers. As regards exports, Turkish mills have started their negotiations at $500/mt FOB minimum for April-May shipments, while some of the producers are aiming at $510/mt FOB. Demand in the EU for imports has been limited lately, partly due to the virus outbreak.
In the import segment, Ukraine’s Metinvest continues to offer $490/mt CFR for small coils for April shipments, while the bids are mainly $10/mt lower than that level. Russia’s MMK and NLMK have no allocation to offer to Turkey, while Severstal is targeting sales at $480-485/mt FOB Baltic Sea as a minimum, which is not considered workable in Turkey, SteelOrbis estimates.
