Following a week of silence, plate buyers in Turkey have started receiving renewed offers from both local and import suppliers. The price levels have not yet changed much as the sellers and buyers are aiming to evaluate business conditions. In addition, some suppliers are still evaluating their positions and have not yet placed any offers.
A South Korean plate supplier is offering $980/mt CFR base, in line with the pre-holiday levels. Another seller of the same origin, according to sources, may agree to trade at $960-975/mt CFR base. Bulgaria’s Stomana is at $1,045/mt CFR base, down $5/mt over the past two weeks. In the meantime, ex-Romania offers have not been announced to the market yet as Galati has decided to take time and evaluate the market prospects. In the meantime, the workable levels for ex-Ukraine steel plate in the Turkish market is estimated at $920-940/mt CFR depending on the grade and for March shipment, SteelOrbis understands. Before the holidays, the prices stood at $10/mt higher. The shipbuilding plate grade from Macedonia’s Makstil is available in the market at €930/mt CFR Turkey, but discounts are possible in negotiations.
In the domestic market, local producer Erdemir is still offering plate at $950/mt ex-works base at the lowest, while offers $20/mt higher are also in the market for smaller lots. Ex-warehouse plate prices have remained unchanged for now at $990-1,110/mt levels, but they may change in line with any possible fluctuations in mills’ prices. However, the stock levels in the market are considered to be low, and so the trends in the spot market and in mills’ offers may show a certain mismatch.
