Erdemir's announcement that it will no longer issue base prices for flat products through its website came as a surprise to the local market. In particular, end-users/mills/producers, which base themselves on Erdemir's prices, have since reported difficulties in determining their prices. Meanwhile, Erdemir has started to return to orders which market players placed last week.
It is said that end-users prefer to turn to stockists and traders for their low tonnage orders rather than turning to Erdemir.
In the Turkish flats market, the stagnancy of demand, which has been observed for weeks now, has continued and prices are still declining. It is difficult for prices to maintain their levels unless they have support from the end-user side. Thus, various price levels can be heard in the market, while mills avoid making purchases in order not to build up high inventories. Market players who are waiting for positive improvements in end-user demand mention that it will be difficult for prices to recover otherwise.
Erdemir has this week started to return to orders placed by local market players last week. For now, Erdemir's June production HRC prices for the local market are heard to be at $660-670/mt. These prices are on the high side as compared to local market prices. SteelOrbis has been informed by local market sources that the Turkish flat steel market has not shown much demand for Erdemir's June production.
As of this week, in the local Turkish flats market hot rolled product (2 mm) and cold rolled product (1-1.5 mm) prices are standing at the levels of $630-650/mt and $780-800/mt respectively.