Weak demand in Turkey’s flat steel export markets

Turkish flat steel export offers have remained unchanged over the past two weeks. Accordingly, Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) offers are still at $610-620/mt FOB, while ex-Turkey cold rolled coil (CRC) offers can be found at the range of $710-715/mt FOB.
 
Italian steelmaker Ilva's return to the European markets has created an uncertainty over prices, while demand in the region has getting weaker. Meanwhile, rapid price drops in flat steel offers to the Middle East, particularly from India and the CIS, have been negatively affecting general demand levels. With the CIS, Europe and the Middle East as their target export markets, the Turkish mills state that demand has remained on the low side and so there is no need to make price revisions at the moment, and only firm bids coming from actual buyers may be accepted.