Turkish buyers await new flat steel import offers

After the announcements of increases in flat steel prices in the local Turkish market, local buyers have started to wait for new import offers to Turkey. The increased local flat steel quotations have failed to gain acceptance in the domestic market. Meanwhile, Russian and Ukrainian offers for December output materials to Turkey are expected to be announced next week with slight increases. However, after the announcement of these offers, transactions concluded in response to firm bids would likely be at similar price levels to current import offers. On the other hand, there are also other expectations in the market that new import offers from Russia and Ukraine could remain unchanged from current offer levels.
 
On the other hand, European flat steel import offers to Turkey have not yet gained clarity. European steel mills, which are struggling with low demand in their domestic markets, are mainly aiming to conclude sales in the international markets and so they are not expected to be too insistent on prices or profit margins. However, if European offers to Turkey remain at very competitive levels, this could create downward pressure on the Turkish domestic flat steel market.
 
As SteelOrbis has heard from market sources, the latest hot rolled coil (HRC) import offers from several sources to Turkey are as follows: HRC offers from Slovakia are at $570-585/mt CFR, Romanian HRC offers are at $565-575/mt CFR, Ukrainian HRC offers are standing at $520-530/mt CFR and Russian HRC offers are at $545-555/mt CFR.
 
Meanwhile the latest import cold rolled coil (CRC) offer to Turkey are as follows: Ukrainian CRC offers are at $595-605/mt CFR, Russian CRC offers for 0.51 mm and above thickness are at $605-610 CFR, while Russian CRC offers for thickness of below 0.51 mm are at $720-725/mt CFR. In addition, Romanian CRC offers are standing at $660-670/mt CFR.