HRC import prices into Turkey fall as euro struggles

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Hot rolled coil (HRC) import prices into Turkey fell this week as new deals put pressure on domestic mills to remain competitive.

HRC is entering the country at $610-640 per tonne cfr main Turkish port, for 2-10mm material for July delivery, market participants said on Thursday June 7.

This is a slightly wider spread than the $620-640 per tonne range from the previous week.

One industrial end user bought HRC for €490 per tonne, or $610, from an Italian supplier – the lowest price seen this week.

Italy was mentioned regularly as a country offering increasingly better deals for the dollar-based Turkish importers thanks to the weaker euro.

Another trade with Corus Tata was as low as $600 per tonne for a 10,000-tonne shipment.

“At the moment we are considering offers from Western Europe, including from France and Spain,” one tube and pipe maker said. “Ukraine has some offers, though due to the tax situation on imports, we are not looking there.”

Ukraine is still being considered by other traders, however, along with Russian mills. One trader cited offers at $605 per tonne from Novolipetsk, although no deal could be confirmed at this level.