In the Turkish welded pipe market, demand has remained at moderate levels and prices have not changed since last week. "We continue to offer for November production, but we do not have too much capacity for November now. We have felt some pressure in prices for two to three days now, but we can not give discounts because Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) prices are strong at the moment and we must consider our restocking costs carefully," one producer told SteelOrbis.
"Buyers are asking for discounts at the moment, but there is no reason for discounts at the moment in the welded pipe market. We have demand, our production is almost full until December and HRC prices are strong. We can understand these discount requests: economic uncertainty continues and the US dollar-Turkish lira rate fluctuates and buyers mostly do not believe that current market prices for steel are sustainable. But we should follow the daily movements in the market and at the moment HRC prices are strong and, accordingly, our restocking costs are high too," another producer told SteelOrbis.
Prices are now at $580-590/mt ex-works in the local market and at $550-570/mt FOB for export markets.
On the export side, Turkish welded pipe producers are satisfied by demand. Demand in the EU markets is getting better everyday and we believe this outlook will continue until mid-November," a trader told SteelOrbis.
** Prices are given for ERW pipes and hollow sections with 2-4 mm wall thickness made from HRC of S235 grade as per EN 10219, on theoretical weight basis.