In the Turkish domestic market, Erdemir has revised its list prices for May production and started collecting orders. It is reported that orders can be placed until April 7 and will be assessed on April 9.
With the new price list, Erdemir has increased its HRC prices by $110/mt, raised its CRC prices by $100/mt, galvanized prices by $90/mt and plate prices by $50/mt; meanwhile, the producer's tin coil/sheet prices have remained unchanged. The new base prices effective for local sales as of April 1, 2010 are as follows;
Hot rolled products $720/mt
Cold rolled products $800/mt
Galvanized products $820/mt
Plate $800/mt
In the local market, traders in particular had been expecting that prices would increase to these levels. Before Erdemir revised its list prices, some traders and steel service centers had closed their sales or had increased their prices to the anticipated levels. The price increases in question are driven by raw material and iron ore prices, as in previous weeks. It is difficult to say that prices are at these levels on the demand side for now.
In order for prices to take hold at these current levels, demand needs to be seen from end-users and from mills. Currently, local producers think that they will not be able to conclude orders received from foreign customers in previous months due to the increased raw material prices. Local mills, interviewed by SteelOrbis, state that the orders that they had received a few months ago are no longer valid due to the current price levels, and that they are not able to conclude deals with foreign companies due to the increased prices. In the coming days, prices may maintain their levels with the support of demand from mills; otherwise, if demand gets weaker, it will be difficult for prices to keep these levels. This summarizes the situation in the domestic market.
Steel service centers have also increased their prices in line with Erdemir's price announcement. As of this week, in the local Turkish flats markets, hot rolled product (2 mm) and cold rolled product (0.5 mm) prices are standing at the levels of $730-750/mt and $890-900/mt, respectively. Traders we interviewed think that prices can gain acceptance by early next week.