<article><p class="lead">Turkey's iron ore imports picked up in August, boosted by higher volumes from Brazil and India.</p><p>Iron ore imports totalled 925,759t in August, up from 743,247t in July, according to trade data.</p><p>Imports from Brazil rebounded from July's year-to-date low of 243,326t, rising to 582,470t in August, while imports from Sweden were roughly flat month on month at 165,001t.</p><p>The latest Turkish trade data flag up iron ore arriving from India for the third month since Turkey started receiving Indian iron ore earlier this year. Turkey imported 118,569t in August, 116,272t in June and 68,010t in March, from India. This trade flow is expected to continue, with market participants last month noting a recent sale of Indian iron ore pellet to Turkey. </p><p><i>Argus</i> today assessed Indian pellets with 64pc Fe and 3pc Al at $105/dry metric tonne (dmt) cfr China, and 64pc Fe pellet with 2pc Al at $107/dmt cfr China, boosted slightly in the past week by an uptick in buying interest and Brazilian producer Vale cutting its 2019 pellet production guidance.</p><p>Indian pellet exports to Europe and Turkey faltered in the second quarter as the steel market malaise persisted and summer arrived. But the potential for Indian pellets remains a talking point across the region as steelmakers explore options for bringing down their raw material costs in the face of flagging steel prices, and with high Atlantic pellet costs remaining a point of contention between some buyers and sellers.</p><p><i>Argus</i> last assessed fob Turkey hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices on 27 September at $420/t fob, which compares with the ICX index for 62pc Fe iron ore fines at $93.80/dmt cfr Qingdao today. At the beginning of October 2018, Turkish mills were looking at a wider spread with HRC at $555/t fob and the ICX at $69.05/dmt cfr Qingdao.</p><p>Looking at the full January-August period, Turkey's iron ore imports are roughly flat year on year at 7.16mn t, in part supported by the stronger performance of its flat steel market in the first half of 2019 compared with the long steel market. But it remains to be seen how imports will fare going forward, with Turkey's HRC sector facing growing headwinds since the summer and fob Turkey prices having fallen by $70/t since mid-August, according to <i>Argus</i> assessments. </p></article>
