This week, Turkish buyers' import steel plate bookings have slowed down slightly, though no significant drop in demand is observed. In the meantime, although buyers are currently delaying their steel plate purchases, transaction activity is expected to increase soon as these buyers' inventories are low. Waiting for steel plate prices to come down by about $10-15/mt, buyers state that prices may decline to desired levels in the coming weeks.
Ukrainian steel producer Donetsk Metallurgical Plant (DMZ) still continues to conduct maintenance works in its plants and the producer is not expected to allocate material for exports. Another Ukrainian mill Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol (Ilyich) has not yet announced its plate offers, while buyers foresee that its plate offers to Turkey may be at $640-650/mt CFR.
Steel plate offers to Turkey given by Ukraine's Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works are standing at $645-650/mt CFR, while Bulgarian producer Stomana's steel plate offers to Turkey are at €540-550/mt ($670-682/mt) CFR and Macedonian mill Makstil's offers are at $815-825/mt CFR.
Market players in the Turkish plate market state that domestic plate demand is moderate, though demand from the export markets is fairly weak.
€1 = $1.24