Over the past week, plate demand in Turkey has remained weak with little business being done. Some concerns are present regarding offers from China which may exert some pressure on prices in the segment. For now, local mills and traders remain firm in their official offers, but are reportedly ready to provide discounts of up to $20/mt in order to trigger sales. In the meantime, most foreign suppliers have chosen to decrease their prices.
Local producer Erdemir has kept its plate offers at $570-580/mt ex-works for March deliveries. In the meantime, traders in Turkey are still offering St37 grade 15-40 mm x 1,500 mm plate at $560-580/mt ex-warehouse in Gebze and at $550-570/mt ex-warehouse in the Eregli region, SteelOrbis has learned. Prices are for advance payment for February deliveries.
In the import segment, Ukraine’s Metinvest continues to offer plate to Turkey $545/mt CFR for March production and April delivery, firm bids $15/mt lower are considered acceptable. In addition, the producer is expected to announce prices for April production plate at lower levels. Bulgaria’s Stomana Industry S.A. is in the market with $550-560/mt CFR for April production, down $10-20/mt over the past week. Chinese origin plate is on offer at $630/mt CFR Turkey, SteelOrbis has learned.
In the shipbuilding segment, Macedonia’s Makstil is at €550/mt ($595/mt) CFR for April deliveries, down by at least $15/mt down over the past week, SteelOrbis has learned. Offers from Metinvest have been reported at $540-550/mt CFR for April production.