Turkish hot-rolled coil (HRC) export offers rose this week, as mills mimicked positive price movements seen in Asia-Pacific and Europe.
Some cited strong order books as the reason for the increase. Only November shipments were available from Turkey on certain products such as pickled and oiled, a source said.
Exporters are in no rush to book cargoes at the moment, probably because of ongoing developments in EU trade policy linked to the "effective trade measure" promised by the European Commission.
Suppliers increased their starting offers for exports to the EU to $550-560/t fob for October shipment. A couple of transactions were reported into Italy and Spain at $525-530/t fob. But these prices are not available any more, market participants said, suggesting that these deals closed in previous weeks. One mill was slightly more aggressive than the other two, starting its offers at $535-540/t fob. Firm bids from European buyers at $525-530/t fob were rejected by one producer.
Offers to Italy were heard at €520-530/t ($600-610/t) cfr duty included, while a Spanish buyer received an offer of €510/t cfr duty included at the start of the week. Depreciation of the US dollar against the euro and holiday closures in Europe meant activity remained slow.
Argus' weekly domestic HRC assessment moved up by $5/t to $550/t ex-works. The export assessment jumped by $10/t to $530/t fob, while the import assessment for S235 grades increased by $5/t to $500/t cfr.
Domestically, mills collected their last orders for September delivery this week, with transactions for medium-sized lots at $550-555/t ex-works. List prices somewhat overlapped with this range, as starting offers were heard at $550-560/t ex-works, depending on the producer. A supplier increased its offer from $550/t cfr Marmara to $555-560/t cfr Marmara during the course of the week, while an Iskenderun-based mill offered at $550/t ex-works. The other two active producers in the market started their prices at around the $560/t ex-works mark, attracting little interest at these levels. It is unlikely that a service centre or a stockist could achieve $545/t ex-works from the market today, but maybe a re-roller could, a source said. One producer has a significant backlog of orders that is causing deliveries to be delayed, the source said.
Chinese offers increased at the start of the week before correcting slightly as traders settled for $500-510/t cfr prices for Q195 grades on Friday. Slow trade pushed prices down as traders struggled to book any meaningful volumes on the seaborne markets. One Turkish buyer may have bid at $475/t fob at the start of the week, but this remained unverified. The recent volatility of Chinese offers is likely putting buyers off. Deals for undisclosed volumes of Egyptian material were closed into Turkey at $550-555/t cfr, with offers starting at about $560/t cfr. One Black Sea mill sold lots at $510-515/t cfr Turkey for October shipment, despite upcoming scheduled maintenance. Further north in the Baltics, $480-490/t cfr Middle East and north Africa was accepted by buyers in the region. Argus' weekly Black Sea HRC assessment rose by $20/t to $485/t fob.
