Plate pricing still positive in Turkey

Prices have increased further in the Turkish steel plate market over the past week despite the ongoing sluggishness of activity. Buyers have continued to give lower firm bids, but sellers have managed to avoid discounts, backed by strong hot rolled coil prices in Turkey. Moreover, import plate offers in Turkey are on the high side also. "Buyers want lower prices, but this is not possible at the moment. Traders do not have cheaper sources for plate, with both local and import plate prices being strong. If we give discounts, we cannot renew our stocks. Also, demand in Europe is really strong and many import sources prefer to sell there instead of to Turkey. Despite the low demand, we cannot say supply is high: on the contrary, some import sources are occasionally out of the market. In this situation, we cannot accept discount requests, unfortunately," a trader told SteelOrbis.

Prices from local producer Erdemir have been heard in the market at $1,010-1,030/mt ex-works for S235JR quality and at $1,040-1,060/mt ex-works for S355JR quality plates for August production, increasing by $15-20/mt over the past week.

In the import segment, Bulgaria’s Stomana Industry S.A is offering for July production at $1,010-1,020/mt CFR for S235JR grade and at $1,050-1,070/mt CFR for S355JR grade, up $30/mt over the past week. Romania is in the market with $1,050-1060/mt CFR for S235JR grade material for June rolling, up $80/mt over the past week. Metinvest is again absent from the market and is expected to offer for August production, according to market sources. Because of the strong demand in the EU, the company gives no allocation to Turkey for July production.

In the shipbuilding plate segment, Macedonia-based Makstil is offering at €850/mt CFR for S235JR quality and at €880/mt CFR for S355JR quality, for July deliveries, unchanged over the past week, as SteelOrbis learned.

Prices have increased by $30/mt in the spot market since last week.