The steel plate market in Turkey remains quite unbalanced in terms of domestic and import prices, given that some of the foreign customers continue offering the product at very high and unworkable levels. The key reason is the decent demand and pricing in their own local markets and the ongoing scarcity of import alternatives for plate in Turkey.
Particularly, the sufficient demand and high prices for plate, recently seen in the EU, have become the main reason for Bulgaria's Stomana and Romania’s Galati to offer plate at $1,980/mt CFR to Turkey, for June-July shipments. Macedonia’s Makstil is offering at €1,730/mt CFR or $1,885/mt CFR base according to the current exchange rate. In the meantime, ex-South Korea offers are among the cheapest, at $1,520/mt CFR Turkey, SteelOrbis has learned. Ex-Indonesia offers to Turkey are not yet clear and only some sources reported they received around $1,480-1,490/mt CFR for early June for S235JR grade. In the EU, according to sources, ex-Indonesia plate is at €1,380-1,460/mt CFR depending on the steel grade and discharging port. “Most import prices are not workable in Turkey and sellers from Europe are not under pressure, so they are just watching the market,” a trader said. “In June-July, the prices [from EU] will sharply decrease, once demand gets weaker,” another source mentioned.
In the domestic market in Turkey, the ex-warehouse plate prices have been settled at $1,760-1,870/mt ex-warehouse for S235JR material and around $20/mt higher for S355JR grade. In the meantime, local producer Erdemir’s plate prices differ from customer to customer. Some buyers report they have been receiving $1,720-1,735/mt ex-works for S355JR grade, while others report the latest prices for S235JR have been received at $1,520-1,560/mt ex-works.