As sentiment in the Turkish hot rolled coil market (HRC) has remained gloomy and concerns regarding the Turkish economy and the upcoming elections have increased, local retail demand for flats has again remained sluggish and under pressure. As a result, traders have decided to provide higher discounts on their spot prices in order to attract buyers, while price reductions are expected to continue in the coming weeks.
“The decrease has occurred. Prices are under pressure and expectations for further declines persist…Business is slow and everyone is waiting to see what will happen after this weekend’s elections,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
Over the past week, the workable domestic pricing for hot rolled sheets has decreased by $20/mt to $780-810/mt ex-warehouse. While bigger traders have offered at around $800-810/mt ex-warehouse, smaller and mid-sized traders have offered at $780-790/mt ex-warehouse.
Similarly, the general range of domestic cold rolled sheet prices has weakened by $25-30/mt from last week to $850-900/mt ex-warehouse, while, in order to attract more attention from consumers, some smaller traders have been making aggressive offers at $800-830/mt ex-warehouse.
