Demand for flat steel in Turkey failed to improve in February although prices increased, but no further price rises were expected, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 6.
Local producers have filled their order books until May, they added.The price rises in February resulted from increasing prices for raw materials after the rupture of a tailings dam at Vale's Feij??o iron ore mine in the city of Brumadinho, in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil.One consequence of the accident will be a reduction of 40 million tonnes per year in iron ore production, and recognition of this led to price increases for all steelmaking raw materials.Fastmarkets' daily index for Northern Europe-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) scrap material, for example, was calculated at $311.53 per tonne cfr on March 5, up from $297.39 per tonne cfr on February 1. It had been as high as $324.72 per tonne on February 8.As a result, flat steel prices in Turkey started February with increases, but most prices fell back in the second half of the month because of weak demand and...