This week, Turkish flat steel traders have raised their prices in response to the increases in the pricing of hot rolled coil (HRC) as well as the stabilization of the scrap market. However, traders point to insufficient domestic demand and ongoing financial difficulties in the domestic market. As a result, despite the increase in prices, some traders have continued to provide discounts to serious purchasers in order to maintain their business activities.
“Although prices are increasing, there has been no improvement in local demand, which is still weak. Furthermore, the Turkish government is quite clear about its financial policy, making it tougher to conduct business activities. For these reasons, I don't see any optimistic projection for the upcoming months since the current banking difficulties don't appear likely to be resolved any time soon,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
Over the past week, prices for domestic hot rolled sheets have increased by $10/mt to $700-720/mt ex-warehouse. According to reports, the bigger and medium-sized traders are offering at around $710-720/mt ex-warehouse, and smaller traders are selling at around $700/mt ex-warehouse. Nevertheless, as indicated above, certain traders also providing discounts and are offering at $680-690/mt ex-warehouse.
On the other hand, in the cold rolled sheet market, most traders are offering at around $790-820/mt ex-warehouse, versus $780-800/mt ex-warehouse seen last week.