Activity in the Turkish seamless
pipe market has been slow over the past month amid weak end-user demand ahead of the country's municipal elections which will be held on March 30. However, some foreign suppliers have started to raise their seamless
pipe offers for Turkish customers, expecting to see a seasonal demand revival soon. Thus, prices of Ukrainian and Russian seamless pipes for the Turkish market have increased by a minimum of $30/mt over the past month, while prices of Romanian seamless pipes have moved up by a maximum of $20/mt over the same period. Only Chinese seamless
pipe prices for
Turkey have declined by around $20/mt. Turkish seamless
pipe market participants hold a mixed outlook for the coming period as uncertainties prevail in the market and as demand for seamless pipes so far remains tepid.
Chinese suppliers are offering seamless pipes of 2"-12" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L to the Turkish market in the price range of $800-880/mt CFR.
Ukrainian producers' offers for 60-273 mm seamless pipes of grade 10, 20 as per GOST are being given to the Turkish market at about $870-900/mt CFR, while 2"-10" pipes as per ASTM/API are quoted at around $880-920/mt CFR.
Russian producer ChTPZ Group (Pervouralsky Novotrubny Works) is offering 2"-8" seamless hot-formed pipes of grade B made to ASTM at about $850-900/mt CFR.
Import offers of seamless pipes from Romania (ArcelorMittal), 3"-10" of grade B made to ASTM A106 or API 5L, are being given to the Turkish market at around $1,330-1,400/mt CPT.