Following recent significant declines, Turkish flat steel spot prices have stabilized this week. However, with local demand remaining sluggish and given the continued soft trend of hot rolled coil (HRC) prices, traders are maintaining a flexible stance by extending discounts to serious buyers. While larger traders prefer to maintain higher levels within the workable range and offer discounts of $5-10/mt, small and medium-sized traders who already quote at the lower end are offering a further $10/mt discount. Despite these efforts, market participants report that overall demand remains weak. With expectations of rising input costs later this month, most sellers are focused on managing financial stability and minimizing potential losses in anticipation of cost increases.
Against this backdrop, workable domestic hot rolled sheet (HRS) prices are currently at $570-590/mt ex-warehouse. Medium-size and smaller traders are offering at $570-580/mt ex-warehouse, while larger traders are holding prices at around $590/mt ex-warehouse.
Similarly, most traders in the cold rolled sheet (CRS) market have decided to maintain last week’s price range of $680-725/mt ex-warehouse.
Meanwhile, as mentioned above, Turkish hot rolled coil prices have softened to $535-550/mt ex-works. However, this week has seen increased activity from China, with offers moving at $475-490/mt CFR. This may prompt Turkish mills to consider raising their official prices in response to the global trend, but domestic demand remains noticeably sluggish, which may limit the feasibility of any effective price hike in the near term.
