Despite higher local hot rolled coil prices, steel plate prices in Turkey have failed to recover because of low domestic demand. Traders tried to increase their prices by $10/mt by the end of last week, but buyers have not accepted the new price levels. Prices decreased by $10/mt again, remaining at the previous levels.
"We must increase our prices too because our restocking costs have already increased, but demand is really low and stocks are high in the market. Nobody wants to miss any demand at the moment, and so they have accepted buyers' requests as regards price," one trader told SteelOrbis.
Erdemir's prices for plate have remained stable since last week at $510-520/mt ex-works for S235JR quality and at $560/mt ex-works for S355 JR quality plates, for October production.
Low demand has affected import offers and discounts up to $20-30/mt are still available. Bulgaria’s Stomana Industry S.A. is in the market with $520-530/mt CFR for S235JR grade and $560-570/mt CFR for S355JR grade for September production. In the shipbuilding plate segment, Macedonia-based Makstil’s price is at €470-480/mt CFR for September deliveries, SteelOrbis has learned.