Approaching the middle of January, the Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) market has started seeing a cautious rebound in official domestic offers, following sufficient sales realized in the previous 10-15 days by some suppliers. This development, given also a certain lack of import offers, has created some positive expectations regarding prices, at least in the short run. In addition, the gradual upturn in scrap prices is a supporting factor, as well as the recent price increase for certain flat products in the EU.
Local HRC mills in Turkey have returned with official offers at $830-850/mt ex-works base, after concluding sufficient sales. According to sources, recently there has been rather lively trade to domestic customers, which allowed the mills to close sales for February production mainly at $800-815/mt ex-works and to increase offers for March. Turkey’s export offers have also moved up to $830/mt FOB minimum.
In the import HRC segment in Turkey, one Russia-based mill has traded its 15,000-20,000 mt allocation for February production at slightly above $800/mt CFR. Another Russian company has been avoiding giving firm offers, claiming its allocation for February production will be limited due to repairs at rolling lines or that there will be no allocation for the mentioned month at all. According to sources, the supplier’s offer for March production HRC for Turkey currently stands at as high as $825/mt CFR. An HRC supplier from Ukraine has also not yet given any firm offers to Turkey this week as it prefers to collect buyers’ price ideas for now. The latest deals were closed for small coils at around $790/mt CFR in early January. However, given the improved market conditions and overall positive mood, the producer is expected to offer an increased price for the Turkish market.
Although generally the rebound in the HRC segment is becoming more and more visible, at least in the near term, the aggressive pricing from India remains a concern. Earlier this week, large Indian mills were offering $785-795/mt CFR for February shipments, and later on they appeared to be ready to deal at $775-780/mt CFR. According to sources, the buyers’ price ideas are at $765-770/mt CFR and currently there are some negotiations continuing. “I think they will book 10,000-15,000 mt each and with that India will be done for February shipments here [in the region]. It might not have much effect on others [as per mills’ offers] as all of them are there to sell for March and can wait for now,” a trading source told SteelOrbis.
