Over the past two weeks, demand has improved and prices have moved up in the Turkish steel plate market. In the domestic market, ex-mill and traders’ offers have mainly increased by $10/mt over the past two weeks. Erdemir is now offering at $500-510/mt ex-works for July deliveries. Big traders in the Gebze region are aiming at $540-550/mt for S235JR quality and $580-590/mt for S355 quality plates, both ex-warehouse. In the meantime, traders’ offers for St37 grade 15-40 mm x 1,500 mm plate are at $510-530/mt ex-warehouse in Gebze and at $500-520/mt ex-warehouse in the Eregli region, both up by $20/mt, SteelOrbis has learned. Traders’ prices are for advance payment and prompt deliveries. “We have increased our prices with the support of better demand and higher hot rolled coil prices. Demand is more limited when you compare with other flat products, but we are hoping for at least more stabilized market conditions for the summer period because the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down in most of the world,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
Import offers also have increased due to better business conditions and somewhat positive sentiment. Bulgaria’s Stomana Industry S.A. is in the market with $540-550/mt CFR for S235JR grade and $580/mt CFR for S355JR grade for July production, up $20/mt over the past fortnight. In the shipbuilding plate segment, Macedonia-based Makstil’s price is at €530/mt CFR for June/July deliveries, increasing by €10/mt on the lower end over the same period, SteelOrbis has learned.