Despite the minor increase in domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) prices this week, Turkish flat steel spot prices have remained stable over the past week. Market participants believe that keeping prices stable is the wisest course of action given the present negative outlook, which is further exacerbated by the soft trends in the scrap market and persistently weak demand.
“We are keeping prices stable, but we believe they will eventually fall due to the extremely low demand and declining scrap prices. However, if demand picks up in September after the holidays, things may potentially change,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
This week’s workable prices are at $600-620/mt ex-warehouse, with the bigger dealers reported to be offering at about $620/mt ex-warehouse, while medium-sized and smaller traders are offering at roughly $600-610/mt ex-warehouse.
Meanwhile, in the cold rolled sheet segment, most sellers have decided to keep offers stable at $740-770/mt ex-warehouse compared to the previous week.