Buying activity in the Turkish welded pipe market has decreased over the past two weeks due to the start of Ramadan. Demand for Turkish welded pipes from foreign buyers is also very weak on the back of the political unrest in North African countries and the summer lull in Europe. Thus, in July exports of welded pipes from Turkey decreased by 16 percent compared to June to 115,917 mt. However, in the first seven months of this year, Turkey exported 979,014 mt of welded pipes, up four percent compared to the same period of last year.
Most Turkish welded pipe producers are trying to keep their domestic and export offers unchanged, while some of them have reduced their quotations by a maximum of $10/mt over the past two weeks due to weak demand. Also, the sharp weakening of the Turkish lira against the US dollar has affected the market. Turkish traders remain very cautious and are reluctant to make any new bookings due to the uncertainty in the market and the current sluggish period. Demand for Turkish welded pipes from both local and foreign buyers is expected to slow down in August, probably forcing suppliers to cut their offers further. However, expected higher flat steel prices in September and better purchasing activity after Ramadan and the summer holidays may push up welded pipe prices later.
Turkish producers are offering ERW pipes and hollow sections of 2-6 mm wall thickness made from hot rolled coil (HRC) of steel grade S235 JRH according to EN 10219 or ASTM A500 to foreign customers at around $790-810/mt FOB on theoretical weight basis. Export offers of ERW pipes and hollow sections of 1.5 mm wall thickness made from HRC from most Turkish pipe makers are at around $850-870/mt FOB, while the same products made from cold rolled coil (CRC) are at $880-910/mt FOB. Water and gas ERW pipes of 2.0-4.5 mm wall thickness made to EN 10255 from S235 grade HR products are being offered for export at about $810-850/mt FOB.
Most offers of Turkish ERW pipes and hollow sections of 2-6 mm wall thickness made from hot rolled coil (HRC) of S235JR grade according to EN 10219 are being given to the domestic market at about $770-790/mt ex-works, while ERW pipes of 1.5 mm wall thickness made from CRC are in the range of $860-900/mt ex-works. 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 $790-820/mt ex-works.
Domestic supplier Tosyali Holding is giving more attractive offers, helped by its use of its own flat steel production. Current discount rates of Tosyali Holding are at 24-27 percent for cash payment. As a result, taking into account the discount levels, domestic prices of hollow sections with wall thickness of 2-4 mm made from HRC as per EN 10219 are in fact at around $685-730/mt ex-works. Hollow sections with wall thickness of 1 mm made from CRC as per EN 10219 are at around $870/mt ex-works. Actual offers of industrial pipes of 48-89 mm outside diameter and 2.0-3.0 mm wall thickness size made to EN 10219/EN 10305-3 from HRC are being given to the domestic market at $715-740/mt ex-works, while ERW pipes made from CRC are at the level of $900-910/mt ex-works (taking discounts into consideration). The range of domestic quotations of ½"-4" water and gas pipes of steel grade St37 made to EN 10255 are at around $710-745/mt ex-works.