Turkey's welded pipe prices have remained almost unchanged over the past two weeks, despite a small uptick in the local flat steel market. Market players report about relatively soft demand from downstream buyers, while demand from foreign customers is better, but is still not strong enough to support a price hike. With the approach of the traditional off-season, buyers are not placing large orders and they are not confident of the market outlook. Under such conditions, market insiders do not think the market will improve with the approach of Ramadan.
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 $655-680/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 $690-710/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 $650-660/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 $680-700/mt FOB.