In the local Turkish coated steel market, low demand, lower-priced scrap deals, and pressure from buyers have caused a significant decrease in prices, which are down by $20-60/mt over the past week. The market outlook remains negative due to lower scrap prices and many believe that prices will continue to decline. Most re-rollers are in the market to sell for April-May production, while only some of them still have March tonnages available. Stocks in the market are not high at the moment but buyers are extremely cautious. "We have been seeing a downtrend since the beginning of January and it is not likely to stop. Lower scrap prices make buyers anxious and demand has weakened a lot. We get many price inquiries every day, but sales volumes are really low. Buyers only want to check market prices and not buy before they believe prices have hit the bottom. But nobody knows what the bottom price is at the moment. The market needs a clear outlook as soon as possible. The lack of clarity is even worse than the price decreases," a producer told SteelOrbis.
On the export side, demand has remained low. Buyers are mostly confused, especially in the EU, because they have waited for a loosening of Covid-19 restrictions, but now they are facing harder measures due to mutations of the virus. Buyers are postponing their orders in this unclear situation.
Turkish domestic prices (ex-works) |
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Product |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
HDG 0.50 mm 100gr/m² |
990-1,020 |
-20/-50 |
HDG 1 mm 100gr/m² |
930-950 |
-20/-50 |
HDG 2 mm 100gr/m² |
900-930 |
-20/-50 |
PPGI RAL 9002 0.3 mm 100 gr/m² |
1,160-1,200 |
-40/-50 |
PPGI RAL 9002 0.5 mm 100 gr/m² |
1,050-1,090 |
-40/-60 |
PPGI RAL 9002 1 mm 100 gr/m² |
1,010-1,050 |
-40/-50 |
Turkish export quotations (FOB) |
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Product |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
HDG 0.50 mm 100gr/m² |
970-1,010 |
-30 |
PPGI RAL 9002 0.5 mm 100 gr/m² |
1,030-1,070 |
-50 |