Turkish steel plate prices stabilize, demand low

Steel plate prices in Turkey have remained stable for now while demand has failed to improve. Many traders believe the price declines have come to an end and that prices will increase after the Chinese New Year holiday. "After the latest scrap deals, we strongly believe the downtrend has come to an end in flat steel prices in Turkey. Also, producers are not in a hurry to announce their new prices, we think they want to wait and increase their prices. It is also positive for the plate market that we do not have too many allocations from suppliers. Tightening supply helps us to keep our price levels," a trader told SteelOrbis.

In the meantime, local producer Erdemir has closed its April sales and its new price levels are expected to be announced for May production. The latest levels from the producer were at $750-770/mt ex-works for S235JR quality and at $790-820/mt ex-works for S355 JR quality plates. 

On the import side, Bulgaria’s Stomana Industry S.A is offering $810-820/mt CFR for S235JR grade and $850-855/mt CFR for S355JR grade for April deliveries, down $10-15/mt over the past week and they have only limited capacity to sell for April deliveries. Romania is again in the market after a long absence, offering $815-820/mt CFR. Once again, the supplier’s allocation for April production for Turkey is limited. No new offers from Italy and South Korea have been heard again since last week. Offers from Metinvest have been reported at $760-770/mt CFR for April deliveries, unchanged since last week. Some sources report the supplier is about to close its sales too.

In the shipbuilding plate segment, Macedonia-based Makstil is offering €660/mt CFR for S235JR quality and at €690/mt CFR for S355JR quality, for end-March deliveries, unchanged since last week, SteelOrbis has learned.