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 decreased by $10/mt on the upper end to $570-600/mt ex-works, though most offers are just below $600/mt ex-works.
As Turkey’s central bank has left its benchmark interest rates unchanged in line with market expectations, no significant change has been observed in currency exchange rates. However, Turkish market players are now waiting for global credit rating agency Fitch to announce its rating for Turkey and are staying on the sidelines for this reason. Since market players are monitoring the economic conditions and as buyers are refraining from fresh bookings ahead of the new year and are instead consuming stainless steel products from their stocks, demand in the local Turkish welded pipe market is quite slack at present.