The hot rolled coil (HRC) market in Turkey has been more or less silent this week, taking into account the calm import segment due to China’s absence and the less active Asian suppliers. In the meantime, although the Turkish mills are mainly offering for April production, the evaluated workable price levels have somewhat softened, although official prices are still on the high side.
Currently, the HRC price level in the domestic market in Turkey is estimated at $740-750/mt ex-works, while offers are still reported at up to $770/mt ex-works. Some of the buyers expect $730/mt ex-works to be workable for decent tonnages. On exports, the HRC offers from Turkey have been mainly reported at $720-740/mt FOB, relatively stable over the past week. The relatively positive local price trend in the EU and the policy of Asian suppliers have supported the sales from Turkey as well, following several weeks of silence. According to sources, at least 30,000 mt of HRC for end of February-March shipment have been recently booked to several buyers in the southern EU at around €735/mt CFR base, duty paid, which nets back to around $720-730/mt FOB.
The import segment of HRC in Turkey has been silent, since China has been on holiday. Most of the market players expect it to return with a significant price increase, which will support the offers from other suppliers, particularly in Turkey. “No one is in a rush to offer now since the real market levels will be defined once China is back. And the prices will be higher than today,” a trader told SteelOrbis. Particularly, Russia, which had earlier been voicing $670-680/mt CFR as a price idea for sanctioned material, has now decided to postpone offers to next week. According to sources, a large ex-Egypt HRC cargo has been booked recently to Turkey at $675/mt CFR, which is considered as a “good” price level for this origin.
