Turkey’s steel plate market has not seen much change in terms of offer prices for most origins over the past couple of weeks, as most market fundamentals in the related segments, such as HRC and raw materials, are quite firm, giving plate suppliers some grounds to avoid discounts. However, end-user demand in Turkey has remained at rather modest levels, affected by ongoing financial issues, which put a ceiling on potential price increases for now.
The official offers from one South Korean mill have been reported at $630/mt CFR base and even slightly higher, for material for October shipments. Still, some market players have reported indications from South Korea for S355J2 material at $700/mt CFR, which they evaluate at $610-620/mt CFR base. “Levels of $600-620/mt CFR actually would be closer to the reality, but we can say that there are still no buyers lining up for most incoming material,” a representative of one service center commented to SteelOrbis.
Chinese plate offers are also available for October shipment with base material indications set at $590-600/mt CFR for base shipbuilding grades, relatively stable over the past two weeks. In addition, the offers for SS400 steel plate from China have been reported at $540-550/mt CFR.
European plate supply remains scarce at the moment and is not in much demand in Turkey due to high prices. Ex-Bulgaria official offers stand at $790/mt CFR for S235JR material and for shipments in the first half of October. Macedonian shipbuilding plate, according to sources, is offered at €700-705/mt DAP, which is around $815/mt DAP according to the exchange rate of $1 = €1.16. Liberty Galati, in the meantime, remains out of the market due to ongoing production issues.
The local mill’s plate prices in Turkey are at $660-670/mt ex-works base, more or less unchanged from the previous levels. In the retail market, traders are offering S355J2 material at $710-720/mt ex-warehouse, while S235JR material is evaluated at $670-690/mt ex-warehouse depending on the seller.