Turkish steel market is struggling against rising costs

While Turkish imported scrap prices closed last week with a decrease, Turkish domestic scrap prices increased over the weekend. Imported scrap purchases, which were at $423/ton at the beginning of last week, decreased to $418/ton towards the end of the week. On Friday, a Marmara mill bought EU HMS 1&2 80:20 for $418/t with bonus scrap from Türkiye for $443/t cfr. Although the supplier offered HMS 1&2 80:20 at a price above $420/ton, it could not sell at the desired level.

While producers put pressure on imported scrap prices, they started to focus on domestic market scrap. Local scrap prices increased by an average of 300 TL/ton.

While Türkiye's local billet prices were traded in the range of $580-590/ton last week, imported billet purchases were made in the range of $540-550/ton.

Raw material costs, especially labor and energy costs, put a strain on manufacturers. Although factories try to sell in the range of $620-640/ton, they cannot find sufficient demand.

Spot rebar prices by region, evaluated by www.steelradar.com on January 15, 2024, are as follows;

Istanbul rebar prices 23,000 TL (0.00)

Izmir rebar prices 22,500 TL (+100)

Karabük rebar prices 22.500 TL (0.00)

Payas rebar prices 23,000 (0,00)