While demand has been almost zero in both the cold rolled coil (CRC) and hot rolled coil (HRC) markets in Turkey and sellers have not been eager to announce firm offers, the indicative price levels have fallen considerably over the past week.
Buyers are confident that in the local HRC market in Turkey it is easy to get $450/mt ex-works for any serious order. Some sources, however, think that levels even $20/mt lower are possible. It is worth mentioning that last week Turkish mills were at around $480/mt ex-works in their indications. As regards exports, some producers’ prices are at $440-450/mt FOB, down by $20/mt over the past week. There are almost zero bids for Turkish exports, but sources doubt Turkey would be able to sell higher than $420/mt FOB. It is worth mentioning that, by the time the situation started to become critical, mills were sold out for April production and part of May, and so they are under a bit less pressure compared to the longs segment.
Domestic CRC prices in Turkey have decreased by $25-30/mt over the past week to $530-550/mt ex-works for April-May deliveries. The producers say demand locally is almost non-existent and so a lot of sellers are seeking to receive bids from potential buyers, being open-ended pricewise. In addition, according to sources, the mills who have been selling major lots under long-term agreements to the local automotive and white goods sectors, are in bigger trouble now and might agree to sell closer to $500-515/mt levels, for export especially.
