Foreign suppliers raise seamless pipe prices for Turkey

The seamless pipe market in Turkey continues to recover from the global crisis and foreign suppliers are still raising their offer levels for the market. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), in December last year Turkey imported 18,807 metric tons of seamless pipes, indicating an increase of 15.3 percent from the November level and up 18.5 percent year on year. Imports of seamless pipes to Turkey in 2010 reached 202,213 metric tons, up 46.6 percent compared to 2009.
 
Import offers of seamless pipes have continued their rising trend. Over the past month quotations of Chinese seamless pipes have increased by 40-80/mt. Import quotations of Ukrainian seamless pipes have gone up by $25-40/mt during the past month. Offers of Russian seamless pipes from TMK have increased by a maximum of $75-80/mt over the period under review, while quotations of Russian seamless pipes from Uraltrubostal have remained unchanged. Quotations for seamless pipes from Romanian suppliers have increased by $170-180/mt over the same period. Seamless pipe demand in Turkey is expected to stay strong supported by the rapid growth of the construction and automotive sectors in line with increasing foreign investments in the country. However, market participants anticipate a slowdown in the upward trend in the seamless pipe segment in parallel with global market sentiments.
 
Current quotations for Chinese seamless pipes 2"-12" grade B made to ASTM A106 are in the range of $1,060-1,230/mt C&F Turkey's Marmara Sea ports.
 
March-April production pipes from Ukrainian producer Interpipe with diameter of 48.3-355 mm made of steel grade 10, 20 according to GOST 8731/8732 are being offered to the Turkish market at about $1,085-1,120/mt C&F.
 
Offer prices ex-Ukraine from Duferco partner Dnepropetrovsk Tube Plant of 57-168 mm seamless pipes as per GOST 8731/8732 are at around $1,220-1,250/mt C&F.
 
Quotations of seamless pipes from Uraltrubostal (Russia) with 33.7-219.1 mm diameter made to GOST 8731/8732 or pipes of steel grade B as per ASTM A106 (May production) are being given to the Turkish market at about $1,120-1,140/mt C&F.
 
Quotations of Russian seamless pipes from TMK (Volzhsky PP and Tagmet) with diameter up to 219.1 mm made to GOST 8731/8732 are being given to the Turkish market at about $1,125-1,150/mt C&F.
 
Seamless hot-formed pipes with 70-168 mm diameter, of 10, 20 steel grade, made to GOST from Sinarsky PP (TMK, Russia) are quoted for the Turkish market at $1,175-1,200/mt C&F for March-April delivery.
 
Quotations of seamless pipes from Seversky PP (TMK, Russia) with 219-355 mm diameter made to GOST 8731/8732 are being given to the Turkish market at about $1,180-1,200/mt C&F.
 
Import offers of seamless pipes from Romania (ArcelorMittal) 3"-8" of grade B made to ASTM A106 are being given to the local market of Turkey at $1,470-1,500/mt CPT.
 
Czech seamless pipes, made to ASTM A106/A53, grade B, are quoted for Turkish consumers at around $1,490-1,510/mt CPT for 2"-8" size.
 
SteelOrbis has been informed that ex-Germany offers (V&M) to Turkey for B steel grade 24" Sch 40 seamless pipes as per ASTM A106 stand at $2,470/mt CPT on theoretical weight basis and for May shipments.