Despite last week’s notable increase in Turkish flats steel spot prices driven by rising hot rolled coil (HRC) prices and an upward trend in China, traders this week were unable to sustain those gains and reverted to earlier pricing levels. Market participants attribute the sharp decline primarily to weak demand, which showed slight improvement last week but quickly returned to sluggish levels. Amid reduced business activity and ongoing financial pressures, small and medium-sized traders have made significant price cuts to generate cash flow. In contrast, larger traders have mostly maintained stable offers, as their previous prices already reflected current market conditions. However, with expectations of a quieter August and limited profit margins, some large traders foresee potential slight reductions ahead.
“We had good sales last week, helped by news from China, but demand dropped by the weekend and remains low. The recent price rise felt artificial and unsustainable. Customer feedback shows the underlying demand is weak, so we kept prices stable. If this continues, we may reduce them slightly next week,” a major trader told SteelOrbis.
Workable domestic hot rolled sheet prices currently stand at $570-595/mt ex-warehouse, down from the previous $590-600/mt ex-warehouse. Larger traders are offering around $590-595/mt ex-warehouse, while smaller traders are selling in the range of $570-580/mt ex-warehouse.
Similarly, most traders in the cold rolled sheet segment have lowered their prices by $20/mt compared to the previous week, bringing current offers to $670-705/mt ex-warehouse.
