Business activity in the steel plate market in Turkey remains restricted, partly as a result of the challenging economic and financial conditions in the local market, which impact the realization of projects. In the meantime, in the import segment ex-EU offers have once again decreased significantly but mainly due to the fact the suppliers had offered excessively high levels previously and now are coming back to reasonable levels when trade in the EU has started slowing down.
In the import segment, Bulgaria’s Stomana is ready to negotiate at around $1,480-1,490/mt CFR, having stepped down from around $1,700/mt ex-works in offers voiced two weeks ago. Makstil, a Macedonia-based plate supplier, is offering shipbuilding grade at €1,400/mt CFR, versus €1,500/mt CFR offered around 10 days ago. Ex-Makstil official offers equal around $1,500/mt CFR though some sources reported $1,370/mt CFR levels could be also possible from this supplier. However, the information was not confirmed by the time of publication.
Ex-South Korea offers have been reported at $1,250-1,270/mt CFR this week and up to $1,300/mt CFR in the indications given to some buyers, which means down around $70/mt over two weeks. “South Korea’s price was reasonable two weeks back compared to Europe. In addition, they are offering for August now,” a source told SteelOrbis.
In the domestic market, according to sources, Erdemir is offering at around $1,450/mt ex-works for base grades and at $1,500/mt ex-works and above for plate with some grade extras. As for the retail market, local stockists are offering at $1,570-1,580/mt ex-warehouse for S355JR grade, SteelOrbis has learned.
