Turkish prices for hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil both fell in January 2021, with the market slow to moderate because of decreasing prices globally, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday February 4.
The country's HRC producers were fully booked until late April, so most market participants expected prices to show more correction, after the sharp increases in November and December 2020.
"There was a shortage globally during November and December, and buying was strong - mainly from China. So price increases were sharp in those months," one Turkish trader said. "However, the shortage is over and now China is exporting at low prices again."
Fastmarkets' daily
steel hot-rolled coil, index, export, fob main port China, was $644.11 per tonne on February 4, compared with $660.90 per tonne on January 4.
The price had been as high as $702.96 per tonne on December 22, but has mostly been decreasing since then.
Investigations
Turkey's Ministry of Trade
started an anti-dumping investigation into imports of hot-rolled flat steel from the EU and South Korea on January 9.
The application for the...