Demand in the Turkish welded pipe market has remained low over the past two weeks. Local buyers have slowed down their welded pipe purchases amid slower end-user activity during Ramadan and the summer season. At the same time, the crisis in Iraq and the summer vacation period in Europe have curbed demand from overseas buyers. However, Turkish welded pipe producers have kept their domestic and export prices unchanged over the past two weeks due to support from increasing production costs. It is thought that the welded pipe market in Turkey is unlikely to indicate much movement until market conditions become clear after the summer slowdown.
Most offers of Turkish ERW pipes and hollow sections with 2-4 mm wall thickness made from HRC of S235 grade as per EN 10219 are being given to the domestic market at about $650-680/mt ex-works on actual weight basis. Water and gas ERW pipes of 2.0-4.5 mm wall thickness made to EN 10255/DIN 2440 from S235 grade HR products are being offered in the domestic market at $680-710/mt ex-works.
Turkish producers are offering ERW pipes and hollow sections made from HRC of steel grade S235 JRH as per EN 10219 to foreign customers at around $640-660/mt FOB, while quotations of cold rolled pipes of steel grades S235 and S275 are at around $710-760/mt FOB. Water and gas ERW pipes with 20-114 mm diameter and with 2.0-4.5 mm wall thickness made to EN 10255 from S235 grade HR products are being offered for export at about $670-700/mt FOB.