Over the past week, demand for Turkish welded pipe in the export markets has remained slack, while Turkish exporters have maintained their prices unchanged. As a result, 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 moved sideways at $640-680/mt ex-works.
Having waited for the announcement of the European Commission (EC) regarding its provisional measures to be imposed against steel imports, Turkish welded pipe exporters’ sales to the EU almost came to a halt. Today, July 18, the EC has made the awaited announcement and shared the details of provisional quotas and duties for steel imports. The measures are in the form of a 25 percent out-of-quota tariff, which will be applied for 23 steel product categories, including steel pipes and hollow sections measures for 200 calendar days beginning from July 19.
Meanwhile, the quotas which will be applied for welded pipe and hollow sections from all countries for 200 calendar days total 296,274 mt and 387,343 mt respectively. Considering that the EU’s share in Turkey's welded pipe exports in the January-May period of this year was approximately 65 percent, with Turkish mills exporting over 180,000 metric tons of welded pipe to the region, the quotas will leave Turkish welded pipe exporters in a difficult situation. Meanwhile, since the quotas in question are spread across all EU countries, it may be difficult to track the unused quota tonnages per country of destination and this may also put Turkish exporters in a risky position, according to market sources.
Having started to search for alternative export markets, Turkish welded pipe exporters have already directed their sales to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). However, the MENA region is still not an adequate replacement market for Turkish mills as compared to the EU, considering the export tonnages in question.