Trade in Turkey’s domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) market has remained limited and some small and medium-sized cargoes have been traded. Buyers are reluctant to restock at present and so some suppliers have provided slight discounts for serious orders. However, many believe that no aggressive import offers from China will be seen in the short term and consequently Turkish mills may be able to avoid significant discounts.
Domestic HRC prices in Turkey have settled at $620-630/mt ex-works base with some offers still voiced at $635/mt ex-works, but they are not considered workable. Some buyers reported that levels as low as $610/mt ex-works and CFR Marmara levels have been available this week, which is taken by the buyers as a signal of a weak market. “Scrap is stuck and, even though Asian slab is higher now, it is not workable since the HRC business is also not great and definitely not good enough to increase prices,” a market source told SteelOrbis. Some believe that China will make a stable or positive return after the holiday and that the non-VAT trade issue may provide support for HRC prices.
Import offers from China for HRC seem to have stabilized at $580-585/mt CFR for large lots of Q195 material for June shipments. The latest deal for a medium-sized lot has been reported at slightly above $586/mt CFR around a week ago. In addition to China, Egypt is in the market with $625/mt CFR for July shipments, which is not yet workable for Turkish buyers. Some of them, however, believe $615/mt CFR levels may be considered workable. There are not many HRC offers from Russia to the Turkish market since suppliers prefer to concentrate on sales to North Africa currently. In fact, bids from Turkey are evaluated at not higher than $570-580/mt CFR, while in North Africa negotiations are about to be closed at around $590/mt CFR, sources report.
