Local Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have increased owing to favorable movements in the scrap market and have had a direct impact on the retail flats sector, with several traders raising their local offers this week. Nevertheless, many retail flats traders are aware that the market will not improve given ongoing low demand and economic issues.
“There is no improvement on the demand side. We are approaching winter and the need for finance is growing, so people are not undertaking unnecessary trade. Prices are increasing due to costs and the present spike in scrap prices, but we anticipate they will decline in the next few weeks.” a source told SteelOrbis.
Currently, the workable domestic pricing for hot rolled sheets is at $720-760/mt ex-warehouse, up from $700-720/mt ex-warehouse last Friday. Similarly, domestic cold rolled sheet prices have gone up by $10-40/mt to $800-840/mt ex-warehouse. Nevertheless, a few traders are seeking to sell at up to $900/mt ex-warehouse, which is not realistic in the present market conditions.