Turkish flat steel exports characterized by lackluster activity
Friday, 13 February 2015 15:10:51 (GMT+3)
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Istanbul
According to market sources, Turkish flat steel exports have continued to be characterized by slack activity over the past week. In the same period, Turkish steel producers' hot rolled coil (HRC) export offers have remained unchanged at $440-450/mt FOB, while their cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have stood at $520-530/mt FOB. However, these prices have failed to gain acceptance in the export markets. Meanwhile, Chinese HRC offers to export markets have declined by $5/mt during the past week to $395/mt FOB, making it very hard for Turkish producers to compete in foreign markets. Market sources state that Turkish producers need to reduce their FOB prices by $40-50/mt to be able to gain acceptance in the global flat steel markets. However, Turkish producers prefer to focus on their local market as prices in the domestic and export markets are currently at the same levels.
Additionally, Russian flat steel offers to Turkey for March shipments have failed to decline to the levels Turkish buyers were seeking. Therefore, Turkish buyers have started to postpone their purchases from Russia. Russian HRC offers to Turkey are currently in the range of $400-410/mt FOB, while CRC offers to the same destination are now at $490-520/mt FOB.
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