Business activity in the Turkish plate market has remained quite modest over the past couple of weeks while the main projects show slow pace of realization due to the tough financial situation in the country. Stockists prefer not to keep excessive stocks and make purchases mainly in order to cover their urgent needs.
Import offers from China have been reported at $640/mt CFR for August shipments and for grade A plate of 6-12 mm thickness. In the meantime, according to various sources, the base plate prices from China have settled at $580-595/mt CFR, for the same lead time. South Korea is in the market with $630-640/mt CFR for end-July and August shipments while the bids for this material are at below $600/mt CFR.
As for the European suppliers, the supply has remained limited since Romania's Liberty Galati is once again out of the market. According to the market information, the mill's long-awaited BF restart was followed by an accident and, currently, the buyers are quite cautious. "This is all very unfortunate for them. It seems they have been already collecting orders and making sales in export markets, but in the domestic too," a market source told SteelOrbis. Bulgaria's Stomana is officially in the market with $810/mt CFR for August shipments, while the buyers assess the realistic level from the supplier at $750-770/mt CFR.
In the local market, the mill's offers for August production, according to sources, have settled at $660-690/mt ex-works, while in the retail market the offers for S235JR grade are at $700-730/mt ex-warehouse.
