End-user demand for welded pipes in Turkey has remained subdued over the past two weeks, while foreign buyers have mostly kept holding back from purchases of Turkish material given the continuous decrease in raw material prices, pessimistic sentiments and tough global market conditions. Nevertheless, Turkish welded pipe producers have preferred to maintain domestic and export quotations at the early-May levels, though with some prices weakening by a maximum of $10/mt. Market insiders believe the situation in the welded pipe segment in Turkey is unlikely to improve soon with lack of demand and lower feedstock quotations weighing on prices.
Most offers of Turkish ERW pipes and hollow sections with 2-4 mm wall thickness made from hot rolled coil (HRC) of S235JR grade as per EN 10219 are being given to the domestic market at about $660-670/mt ex-works on theoretical weight basis, while ERW pipes of 1.5 mm wall thickness made from cold rolled coil (CRC) of DC01 steel grade are in the range of $740-760/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 $680-700/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 $680-690/mt FOB.