The Turkish seamless pipe market continues to remain sluggish during Ramadan. Pipe traders do not expect any surge in demand in the country before the end of Ramadan and are abstaining from big purchases. Despite the weak demand, foreign suppliers of seamless pipes have lifted their offers on the back of rising raw material costs. Thus, offers of Chinese seamless pipes have increased by $35-80/mt over the past month. Import quotations of Ukrainian seamless pipes have gone up by $80/mt. Offers of Russian seamless pipes have increased by a maximum of $40-50/mt over the period under review. Seamless pipe mills from the CIS will likely continue to raise offers for the Turkish market given that Russian round billet prices are moving up again for September. Furthermore, the rising prices of Chinese seamless pipes will also stimulate the growth of seamless pipe prices from the CIS. Meanwhile, demand for seamless pipes in the Turkish market is expected to be quiet in the rest of this year prior to the slower winter season.
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), in June this year Turkey imported 15,800 metric tons of seamless pipes, indicating a decrease of 7.4 percent from the May level, but up 31.5 percent year on year. Imports of seamless pipes to Turkey for the first half of 2010 reached 97,100 metric tons, up 68.9 percent on the corresponding period of last year. The main suppliers of seamless pipes to Turkey remain Russia, China, Ukraine and Romania. However, market participants foresee a further slowdown in the Turkish seamless pipe market in the coming period due to seasonal factors.
Current quotations for Chinese seamless pipes 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106 are in the range of $1,010-1,120/mt C&F Turkey's Marmara Sea ports, while 16"-20" pipes are at $1,070-1,280/mt C&F. Offers of 1" seamless pipes are being given to the Turkish market at about $1,080-1,170/mt C&F, while ½"-3/4" pipes are at $1,140-1,270/mt C&F.
September-October production pipes from Ukrainian producer Interpipe with diameter of 42-159 mm made of steel grade 10, 20 according to GOST 8731/8732 are being offered to the Turkish market at about $980-1,000/mt C&F. Offers of seamless pipes with diameters of 88.9-168.3 mm of steel grade 52.0 made to DIN 1629 are being given to the Turkish market at about $1,060-1,070/mt C&F.
Duferco is offering September-October production Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes of grade B according to ASTM A106 at around $980-1,000/mt C&F. Offers of seamless pipes with diameters of 60.3-88.9 mm of steel grade P235 GH made to EN10216-2 are being given to the Turkish market at about $1,180-1,200/mt C&F.
Russian producer Uraltrubostal (Pervouralsky Novotrubny Works) is offering October production seamless hot-formed pipes with diameter of 33-219 mm made of steel grade 10, 20 according to GOST 8731/8732 at about $950-960/mt C&F, while offers of 2"-8" seamless pipes of grade B as per ASTM A106 are at $970-990/mt C&F.
Seamless pipes of Volzhsky Pipe (TMK, Russia) with 219-426 mm diameter made from steel grade 10, 20 to GOST 8731/8732 are at $970-1,020/mt C&F, while prices for 8"-16" pipes made from grade B to ASTM A106 are at $995-1,045/mt C&F.
Seamless hot-formed pipes with 70-168 mm diameter, of 10, 20 steel grade, made to GOST from Sinarsky PP (TMK, Russia) are quoted for the Turkish market at $1,130-1,150/mt C&F, while prices for 2"-6" pipes made from grade B as per ASTM A106 are at $1,220-1,250/mt C&F.
Quotations of seamless pipes from Seversky PP (TMK, Russia) with 219-355 mm diameter made to GOST 8731/8732 are being given to the Turkish market at about $1,020-1,050/mt C&F.
Import offers of seamless pipes from Romania (ArcelorMittal) 3"-6" made to ASTM A106 are being given to the local market of Turkey at $1,150/mt CPT.
Czech seamless pipes (ArcelorMittal) made to ASTM A106, grade B are quoted for Turkish consumers at around $1,295-1,305/mt CPT for 3"-6" sizes.
16" seamless pipes from France (Vallourec&Mannesmann) of grade B according to ASTM A106 are offered to the Turkish market at $2,100/mt CPT.