Re-rolling companies in Turkey have decided to start the week with a price increase, aiming to reflect higher production costs and the upturn in the scrap segment. As a result, domestic official offers for hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) and cold-rolled coils (CRC) have increased, but some market players doubt the new levels will be accepted, given slow end-user demand for coated steel and sufficient retail stocks.
Currently, Turkey’s official CRC local prices are at $800-830/mt ex-works, up from $750-780/mt ex-works last week. Domestic HDG offers are at $830-860/mt ex-works, up by $50/mt from the workable price levels last week. “Some [producers] increased to these levels, while some had been offering the same prices last week, but were providing significant discounts, though not anymore,” a trader told SteelOrbis. The local PPGI offers are mainly at $960-980/mt ex-works for now, up $30-40/mt over the past week.
Most of the market players agree that the indicated price increase is a cost-driven one and is hardly related with the real demand situation. “The reality is that Turkish steel is produced at a high price, and either you sell at a loss or you decrease the supply,” a re-roller said.
