Turkish steel plate prices continue to increase

Local prices for Turkish steel plates have increased by $50/mt in the last two weeks, but demand has remained low. Prices have increased with the support of higher hot rolled coil (HRC) and scrap prices, but demand has failed to improve due to the year-end period. "It is very normal that we see low demand in this period of the year. Also, plate demand is not always high, unlike other flat products, because there are not too many projects in the market which support plate demand," a trader told SteelOrbis. However, prices are expected to increase further because of the positive outlook in the market. "We expect better demand and higher prices with the new year because raw material prices are strong and stocks remain low in the spot market," another trader told SteelOrbis.

Local producer Erdemir has increased its plate prices by $40/mt to $790-810/mt ex-works for S235JR quality and to $830-860/mt ex-works for S355 JR quality plates, for April production, but market sources state that the producer can announce higher prices next week.
Import prices have also increased over the same period. In the import market, Bulgaria’s Stomana Industry S.A. is now offering at $770-780/mt CFR for S235JR grade and at $820-830/mt CFR for S355JR grade, increasing by $40/mt, for March production. New price levels from  Romania, South Korea and Ukraine-based Metinvest have not been heard in the market in the last two weeks, but new offers are expected to be announced after the New Year holidays. 
In the shipbuilding plate segment, Macedonia-based Makstil also does not offer at the moment and new offers will be announced next week. The last offers from Makstil were at €610/mt CFR for S235JR quality and at €640/mt CFR for S355JR quality, for January-February deliveries, SteelOrbis has learned.

Prices have increased by $50/mt since the last two weeks in the local spot market.