Plate demand in Turkey has remained rather dull and the mood is still weak due to the financial situation in the country, which has had an impact on some consuming projects. In addition, the hot rolled coil (HRC) market is still not so strong, affected by aggressive Chinese offers. As a result, some plate producers have decreased their offers in order to boost sales, but it did not help to increase business activity much.
In particular, local producer Erdemir is now offering at $680-690/mt ex-works for base grades of plate for September production, down from $700/mt ex-works a week ago. Some sources believe that such a policy is a result of competition with South Korea, which remains at $680/mt CFR, though for September-October shipments. China has decreased offers for grade A plate by $5/mt over the past week to $645-650/mt CFR for September shipments, sources told SteelOrbis. European plate offers, however, have remained unchanged: Bulgaria is at $780/mt CFR for September shipments, Romania is said to be at around $765-770/mt CFR. “It is unclear whether Galati is offering new production or from stocks since they might have a blast furnace issue again,” a market insider commented.
