Turkey’s plate market has been somewhat uneven lately in terms of sellers’ price policies. Some of them, particularly domestic suppliers, have decided to provide discounts in order to attract customers, while some of the foreign suppliers have chosen to keep offers stable or even increase them, taking into account the longer lead times.
Import offers for plate in Turkey have moved up for certain origins, particularly for Asian ones. Particularly, South Korea has offered for April-May shipments at the level of $770/mt CFR for S235JR 20 mm material, up $20/mt over the past two weeks. In addition, China is in the market with offers for base shipbuilding quality at $700-710/mt CFR for March-April shipments, while some higher grades are available at $725-740/mt CFR for the same lead time. At the end of January, ex-China offers mainly stood at $690-700/mt CFR, as SteelOrbis reported.
At the same time, Bulgaria is offering $885/mt CFR for late March and early April shipments, while Romania, according to sources, is offering at $860-870/mt CFR for similar lead times, down $10-20/mt, mainly due to euro exchange rate situation. “I am sure that $10-20/mt discounts should be available since local prices are by far much lower than these. The only advantage is the absence of duty, but these prices do not make much sense for Turkish buyers,” a trader told SteelOrbis. On the other hand, European plate prices are being kept at high levels since the suppliers aim to maintain them in line with the local EU market.
In the domestic market in Turkey, Erdemir’s workable plate prices have settled at around $800-820/mt ex-works, having rolled back from $840/mt ex-works and above. In the Turkish retail plate market, traders are offering at around $850/mt for St37 and $880-890/mt for St52, both on ex-warehouse basis.