During the past two weeks, demand in the local Turkish welded pipe market has remained at very low levels as buyers prefer to wait until after the snap elections to be held on Sunday, June 24. On the other hand, domestic welded pipe prices have increased in the last 14 days due to the rises seen in welded pipe export quotations following the uptrend of domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) prices. In the current week, Turkish producers’ offer range for ERW pipes and hollow sections with 2-4 mm wall thickness made from hot rolled coil (HRC) of S235 grade as per EN 10219 to their domestic market has increased by an average of $45/mt to $640-680/mt ex-works.
Since buyers in the local Turkish welded pipe market have been postponing their purchases for some time now, their inventory levels have declined to very low levels, and so buyers are expected to accelerate their welded pipe purchases after the elections. Additionally, Turkish welded pipe producers are expected to wait for the sharp $45/mt rise in their domestic prices to be accepted and are not foreseen to make another increase in their prices in the near term.