TURKEY FLAT STEEL: Prices continue incline on weak year-end buying [CORRECTED]

Flat steel prices in Turkey continued to increase in the week to Thursday December 31, but buying was weak because most buyers were busy with inventory calculations, sources told Fastmarkets.

Additionally, hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices fell during the week in China because of weak trading, which created market concerns about whether global flat steel prices would follow, trading sources said.
Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, export, fob main port China, was $687.24 per tonne on December 24, then fell to $653.25 per tonne on December 30 before rebounding to $658.70 per tonne on December 31.
HRC producers in Turkey were offering material for April production while cold-rolled coil (CRC) was on offer for late-February production at the earliest, trading sources said.

Many countries were on Christmas and New Year holidays last week, so activity was not very strong...

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