Turkey’s hot rolled coil producers have unofficially decreased their offers to $440-445/mt ex-works versus the earlier targeted $450-460/mt ex-works. The key reasons are the low levels of domestic demand, decreasing scrap prices and very limited exports. Local buyers, however, still think that HRC locally is overpriced and are not in a rush to restock. Sources expect that large pipe-makers and re-rollers will pay no higher than $415-420/mt ex-works. “The problem is that the coated steel and pipe producers have a hard time deciding on their feedstock purchases as they are not seeing decent demand from their buyers and do not have much idea of what they will be paying for them,” a trader said.
Official export offers are still at $440/mt FOB and above with not much demand seen. The EU market is still subdued and most buyers are reluctant to take risks ahead of the AD investigation decision. Sources estimate some Turkish mills might be ready to deal at $415/mt FOB shortly. Turkey’s HRC is mainly available for August-September shipments.
In the import segment, Russia’s MMK was testing the market with $425/mt CFR, but later withdrew the offers. Other Russian mills are currently out of the market. The latest offers from Ukraine have been reported at $425-435/mt CFR depending on the coil weight. Some information about HRC cargoes booked from Japan and Romania were discussed in the market, but they were not confirmed by the time of publication.
