Demand in the Turkish welded pipe market has continued to be characterized by weakness over the past two weeks due to the seasonal lull and the softening of flat steel prices. Meanwhile, both local and export prices of Turkish welded pipes have remained unchanged over the period under review. Turkish traders prefer to postpone bookings in order to avoid high inventory levels at the end of the year, especially as they also have liquidity problems, while export activity is extremely low everywhere on the eve of the Christmas/New Year period. With demand expected to improve gradually after the New Year holiday, welded pipes prices in Turkey may start to move up, considering also the strengthening of scrap prices.
Most offers of Turkish ERW pipes and hollow sections with 2-4 mm wall thickness made from hot rolled coil (HRC) of S235 grade as per EN 10219 are being given to the domestic market at about $600-630/mt ex-works on actual weight basis.
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 $590-610/mt FOB, while quotations of cold rolled pipes of steel grades S235 and S275 are at around $680-710/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 $620-640/mt FOB.