During the past 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 $30/mt week on week to $630-660/mt ex-works.
Although the Turkish government’s decision last week to set import quotas for certain steel products and to collect 25 percent import duty if the quotas are exceeded has ended the expectations of a fall in domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) prices, the quota determined for flat steel imports does not seem likely to be filled in the future. As a result, buyers have increased their pressure on prices, causing domestic HRC prices to move down. Despite the fall in domestic HRC quotations, previous expectations of a rise in the welded pipe market have been realized in the current week. It is observed that the appreciation of the Turkish lira against the US dollar has influenced the uptrend of welded pipe prices, though no significant revival in demand in the local Turkish welded pipe market has been seen. Due to the current circumstances, the gap between domestic HRC and welded pipe prices has widened over the past week. On the other hand, SteelOrbis has been informed that some welded pipe producers are planning a reduction in the time periods for deferred payments, but other producers are unwilling to do so.