Turkish coated steel prices rise sharply over past two weeks

In the Turkish coated steel market, prices have increased by $10-60/mt over the past two weeks, though demand has declined. Record-high prices and long delivery terms have caused buyers to adopt a wait-and-see stance. Also, many buyers have already purchased their needs for two to three months. Producers are offering March and April production, but many believe it is a great risk to buy at current price levels with such a lead time. "We are not sure of the sustainability of the current levels over three to four months and the risk is really big at the moment because prices are at a record high. We cannot imagine what will happen if prices start to decline for example in February and we would have high-priced material for March and April. We are not able to take that risk and we want to see market conditions at least until mid-January," an end-user told SteelOrbis.

On the other hand, producers say they have to increase their prices due to higher raw material prices. "We are not in a rush to increase our levels but we have to. Of course, we understand the risk in the market but, as long as our raw material costs increase, we have to update our prices accordingly," a producer told SteelOrbis.

On the export side, the market is silent due to the holiday season, but exporters expect a strong and rapid comeback after the holiday season. "Maybe the lockdowns could be extended, but the EU has already begun vaccination. We will see clearly better market conditions day by day," an exporter told SteelOrbis.