Despite sluggish demand in domestic as well as foreign markets, local hot rolled coil (HRC) prices and import offers from China have increased in Turkey, causing pipe makers to raise prices slightly. The main reason for the rise is the depreciation of the Turkish lira and so most market participants have chosen to sell in the local currency, while still giving prices on dollar basis but adjusting dollar prices in accordance with daily changes in the central bank currency rates.
“After the elections, the dollar rate went up and became unpredictable, and so customers prefer to pay in Turkish liras. We are trying to sell this way right now, so our pricing is still based on dollars. However, we convert our offers to liras depending on the central bank rate and only hold our offer for a brief period of time to prevent losses,” one pipe maker told SteelOrbis.
Currently, offers in Turkey in the local hollow section market are at $820-850/mt ex-works, up about $5-20/mt from the previous week, while some pipe makers are still giving lower levels around $800-820/mt ex-works to attract buyers’ attention.
“We are attempting to sell around $800-820/mt ex-works since, regardless of how much the increase is due to the currency rate, demand is low and with the approaching holiday it will slowly lessen and everyone will eventually make a reduction,” another pipe maker commented to SteelOrbis.
Likewise, export prices have also increased, to $830-860/mt FOB, while the previous weeks’ offers were at $815-860/mt FOB.