Turkish flats market still awaits Erdemir’s June production prices

Although the Turkish domestic market has been eagerly awaiting domestic integrated steelmaker Erdemir's June production pricing announcement, Erdemir has so far not issued its June pricing policy this week either. Traders were expecting that the local market would gain momentum when Erdemir announced its new list prices. Steel prices, showing resistance early this week in line with this expectation, started to indicate a softening trend at the end of the week when Erdemir's awaited increases did not materialize. Discounts of $30-40/mt mentioned in our last report were not seen early this week, but began to be heard again in the last few days.
 
Over the week, traders have tried to avoid reducing their price levels, given the expectation of a price increase from Erdemir. As of this week, in the local Turkish flats markets, hot rolled product (2 mm) and cold rolled product (1-1.5 mm) prices are standing at the levels of $720-750/mt and $830-850/mt respectively. It is possible to hear lower offer levels than the mentioned ones though they are not widespread.
 
Erdemir, which is expected to collect orders for its June production from its domestic market, has organized a new export tender for HRC, CRC, galvanized and tin coils for June/July shipments. Stating that it will assess the orders according to its capacity, Erdemir has given trading firms until May 12 to enter the tender. It is reported that Erdemir may announce its domestic pricing after it has collected orders for export. Thus, Erdemir is expected to announce both its domestic and export prices at the same time.
 
On the import side, no offers from Russian mills have been heard. Last week, Russian mill NLMK had offered HRC and CRC at the price levels of $810/mt CFR and $880/mt CFR respectively. Offers from other Russian mills Severstal and MMK were not heard. This week, Ukrainian mill Ilyich has decreased its HRC offers from $680/mt FOB to the levels of $650-660/mt FOB. Also, lower offer levels for Ukrainian origin ready stock material as compared to last week have been heard.