While flats import offers for March production continue to increase, the Turkish flats market is waiting for Erdemir's price announcement for April production. As also mentioned in our report last week, Russian offers are standing in the range of $610-640/mt CFR for HRC and at $710-740/mt CFR for CRC. Meanwhile, ex-European HRC offers are at the level of €450/mt ($606/mt). This week, Ukrainian mill Zaporizhstal's offer levels have also become clear. Zaporizhstal has issued its price levels at $565-570/mt FOB for HRC and $675-680/mt FOB for CRC. Ilyich's prices for new production are likewise expected to be issued this week, with much higher prices anticipated as compared to last month.
Having made an active start to 2010 and maintained its momentum in subsequent weeks, the Turkish flats market has seen stagnation on the demand side in the last two weeks as market players have started to wait for Erdemir's price list for April production. Erdemir and Isdemir received orders for March production in excess of their capacities, since Erdemir's base price levels were lower than import offers. Registering good demand levels in its domestic market, Erdemir is not allocating materials for export. It is expected that Erdemir will announce its new prices late this week or early next week. As of this week, in the local Turkish flats market, 2 mm HRC prices have maintained their levels at $580-590/mt and 1-1.5 mm CRC prices have stayed at levels of $720-730/mt.
On the HDG side, no offers are heard from Egypt for imports from Turkey due to the good domestic market situation; meanwhile, another North African country is willing to import 0.5 mm HDG from Turkey at approximately $880/mt CFR. With no change in the local Turkish market, 0.5 mm HDG prices remain in the range of $870-880/mt ex-mill.
On the plate side, Ukrainian producer Donetsk's prices stand at $535/mt FOB, while traders offers are at the range of $570-575/mt CFR. Alchevsk's prices were at $560/mt for its most recent production, while its new offers are expected to be at $600/mt and above; however, it is not certain whether the company will allocate tonnages for the Turkish market. Ilyich's plate prices are expected to be announced next week. On the other hand, plate offers from Italy, especially for new production, have risen to higher levels as compared to previous months. Ex-Macedonia offers for plate have reached the level of $670/mt CFR, though it is not possible to say that demand for plate has seen a complete recovery.
The Turkish domestic flats markets continue to be characterized by caution, with most bookings being concluded from Erdemir and Isdemir due to the high levels of import offers. If Erdemir's new prices are more attractive than the import offers, then bookings will continue to be concluded from Erdemir.