The Turkish heavy plate market has not been experiencing much price movement within the past several weeks since demand has remained at moderate levels and no drastic price change has been observed particularly in the import segment. In the meantime, the AD announced case against South Korea has been making Turkish buyers reluctant to deal for this material, which is usually priced at the lower end of the general price range, though for the longest lead time. As a result, the alternative plate suppliers to Turkey might find more space to make sales to Turkey, at least in the short and medium terms.
In the import plate segment, South Korea has been offering St44 grade material at $610/mt CFR for April-May shipments, but the interest of Turkish buyers has been weak in view of the announced antidumping investigation on South Korean plate. Base shipbuilding grade plate prices from China have been reported at $580/mt FOB or around $610-620/mt CFR Turkey for April shipments, with no deals reported, while the prices are mainly in line with the offers of two weeks back.
As for Europe, the most recent offers from Bulgaria have been voiced at $730-735/mt CFR officially, while buyers believe $700-710/mt CFR levels are quite possible, which are the offer levels of two weeks ago. The cargoes are for April shipments. In the meantime, Romania remains out of the plate export market since the restart of the blast furnace at Liberty Galati has once again been postponed. In the meantime, the heavy plate supplier in Macedonia has been in the market since last week with its offer at €735/mt CFR or around $765/mt CFR for shipbuilding material, stable since mid-February.
In the local market in Turkey, the domestic supplier is officially offering at $670-680/mt ex-works for the base grades, while some buyers have reported levels of $630-640/mt ex-works base are also possible for certain breakdowns. In the retail market, the ex-warehouse S355JR plate prices, according to market information, are at $680-710/mt.
