Turkish steel producers’ flat steel export offers remain stable

Despite the upward price trend observed in Turkish flat steel producers' domestic offers since late December, these producers' export offers have not shown similar increases.
 
Due to reduced flat steel demand seen in global markets in the last quarter of 2011, the economic uncertainty surrounding the euro zone, as well as the very low flat steel prices in general, it is reported that Turkish mills and international trading companies were unable to find acceptance for their offers. Currently, Turkish mills' hot rolled coil (HRC) export offers are standing at $620-640/mt FOB, while their cold rolled coil (CRC) offers are at $720-740/mt FOB.
 
In the meantime, the Turkish flat steel import market is expected to revive next week. Flat steel producers from the CIS and Europe are expected to announce their export offers for February rolling, while import flat steel offers to Turkey on CFR basis are predicted to increase by about $20-30/mt.
 
In the past week, Russian steel producer Severstal has announced its price offers for the Turkish market at $660/mt CFR for HRC and at $750/mt CFR for CRC, both for February rolling. These price levels indicate an increase of approximately $20/mt as compared to last month's offers.