Demand for flat steel in Turkey is expected to remain slow throughout January, and prices are not expected to increase because global flat steel prices are falling, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 3.
Local producers have filled their order books until late February, they added.The price falls in December resulted in part from weak demand in the local market as well as the holiday season in Europe, which is the country's biggest export market.Global flat steel prices also fell during December.Fastmarkets' price assessment for EU imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) into Southern Europe was ?,?460-470 ($525-536) per tonne cfr main ports on January 2, down from ?,?470-475 per tonne fob on December 5.Slab productionTurkey produced 11.54 million tonnes of steel slab in January-November, up by 7.79% year-on-year from 10.71 million tonnes in the corresponding period in 2017, according to data from the Turkish Steel Producers Association (T???oeD).Domestic pricesHRC, CRCMost flat steel prices moved downward in December because of slow domestic demand.Fastmarkets' price assessment for Turkish domestic HRC was $500-510 per tonne ex-works on...