This week, flat steel spot traders in Turkey, having observed the stable trend in the hot rolled coil (HRC) market, have decided to keep their offers unchanged from last week. Despite the stable prices, most market participants are pessimistic for the coming weeks as no significant recovery has been witnessed in the market. Meanwhile, as regards demand, while medium-sized and smaller traders have said that trade continues to remain weak, bigger traders have indicated slightly improved interest from buyers during the past week.
“Prices remain stable. While the demand side is a bit better for us this week, overall it is still poor, and I do not see any change in the near future,” a bigger trader told SteelOrbis.
Over the past week, workable domestic hot rolled sheet pricing has remained unchanged at around $610-620/mt ex-warehouse. However, a few larger traders have attempted higher levels of roughly $630/mt ex-warehouse due to the improved trading, but this price is nearly impossible in the current market situation.
The domestic cold rolled sheet market has also been stable this week, with most traders quoting at around $750-780/mt ex-warehouse, unchanged from the previous week.