On the import side, Russian and Ukrainian suppliers' pig iron offers to the Turkish domestic market are at the range of $420-450/mt CFR, while Russian offers are closer the high end of the range. Last week, Ukrainian pig iron offers had decreased to $435/mt CFR, and the offers have seen a further decline this week of $15-20/mt. In the meantime, Turkish buyers believe that offers will likely soften further soon and so they are postponing their purchasing activities.
In line with scrap quotations, pig iron prices in Turkey have moved down rapidly and this trend is expected to continue in the coming weeks. Amid the ongoing debt crisis, all over Europe and in the Turkish domestic market raw material demand has remained low. Meanwhile, Turkish steel mills' raw material purchases become scarce due to low finished steel demand and the desire of traders to avoid high stock levels. Market sources tell SteelOrbis that no demand improvement is anticipated in the Turkish domestic market during the summer.