Last week, Chinese suppliers continued to increase their finished steel offers to the domestic and export markets as a result of the ongoing uptrend in global raw material prices, and so hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in the global markets have continued to move upwards. With the ongoing increases in their production costs amid higher global raw material prices, Turkish steel producers increased their HRC offers to the export markets late last week. Accordingly, Turkish producers’ HRC offers to the export markets have increased by $20/mt over the past week to $490-500/mt FOB.
Although domestic HRC prices in Europe, one of Turkish exporters’ main target markets, have increased by €15/mt ($16/mt) week on week to €450-490/mt ($486-529/mt) ex-works, European buyers have continued to prefer to meet their needs for HRC from their domestic market, since Turkish HRC offers have failed to ensure a competitive advantage when delivery costs are considered.
Following the downticks seen in the Chinese steel futures market so far this week, global coal and iron ore prices have declined today, November 15. Accordingly, Chinese HRC exporters have decreased their offers to the export markets by $10/mt to $470-480/mt FOB. This situation has resulted in nervous sentiment among market players, raising concerns that the long-standing upward trend of HRC prices might may be coming to an end.