Turkish steel plate prices have mostly not changed since last week, while local demand has failed to improve. The price increases seen in the Turkish flat steel market have affected Turkish plate offers positively and, despite the low demand and high stock levels, Turkish plate prices have mostly remained at unchanged levels, but some offers have softened because traders want to increase their liquidity.
``Prices are now stable for the local market but discounts are still on the table. Real buyers can have discounts up to $20/mt according to order tonnage or payment. We are following hot rolled coil (HRC) prices and now, with the higher import taxes in Turkey, we think prices will see some improvement for all flat products,” a trader told SteelOrbis. On the other hand, there is almost no demand and sales are limited to mostly small tonnages for urgent needs in the market. “It does not matter if prices are up or down, what we urgently need is for our demand to recover. Stocks are high and at the moment any price increase cannot survive. Traders need cash and they are ready to give discounts and lower offers to sell some material,” another trader told SteelOrbis.
Turkish producer Erdemir continues to offer steel plate at $530-540/mt ex-works for May deliveries. Big traders in Gebze are offering at $560/mt for S235JR quality and $590/mt for S355 quality plates, both ex-warehouse, down $10/mt since last week, but these prices are for advance payment and prompt deliveries. In the meantime, traders in Turkey continue to offer St37 grade 15-40 mm x 1,500 mm plate at $540-560/mt ex-warehouse in Gebze and at $530-550/mt ex-warehouse in the Eregli region, SteelOrbis has learned. The prices are for advance payment for April deliveries.
In the import segment, discounts are still available. Bulgaria’s Stomana Industry S.A. is in the market with $550-560/mt CFR for S235JR grade and $590/mt CFR for S355JR grade for June production. Ukraine’s Metinvest is still not offering due to lack of demand, SteelOrbis has learned. In the shipbuilding plate segment, Macedonia-based Makstil’s price is at €530-540/mt ($595/mt) CFR for May deliveries, decreased €10-20/mt since last week.