Over the past week, with the downtrend in the Chinese steel market having been replaced by price increases, risks of further price declines have diminished and Turkish buyers have returned to the import market. However, since Turkish buyers have mostly completed their purchases for the month of March, the recovery seen in demand for import products has remained limited. According to market sources, in the past week, Turkish buyers have concluded HRC bookings from Russia in the range of $510-520/mt CFR, while a large volume hot rolled coil (HRC) booking from Ukraine was concluded at $505/mt CFR.
Following these recent bookings, HRC offers to Turkey from the CIS region have moved up. Accordingly, HRC offers from Russia have increased by $15/mt to $510-520 CFR, while HRC offers from Ukraine have increased by $10/mt to $505/mt CFR, both week on week. Cold rolled coil (CRC) offers from Ukraine and Russia have moved sideways week on week, remaining at $570-575/mt CFR and $575-585/mt CFR, respectively.