The downtrend in hollow sections market persisted this week, and the majority of pipe producers foresee that this drop will continue in the coming month. Due to the unfavorable circumstances; inflation, Turkey's economic difficulties, and stagnant demand from both local and foreign markets, it might seem obvious to think that price reductions are inescapable. However, some of the players expect the EU to increase the domestic flats prices, which might also give a boost to Turkey’s sales as well.
“We are aiming to sell as much as possible in order to maintain business activities, but we do not have much hope that prices will rise and the market will recover in the upcoming weeks because negative factors and also many buyers want to buy at very low prices and, rather than buying high tonnage at current prices, they buy fewer tonnages and wait for the market to tumble before buying again,” a pipe-maker told SteelOrbis.
Turkey's local HS prices fell by $30/mt this week to $660-700/mt ex-works. While some of the medium-sized producers have been quoting around $680-700/mt ex-works, the most recent offer from one of the bigger mills has been quoted at $660/mt ex-works. However, for significant tonnages, they are willing to provide discounts. On the export side, the offer level has dropped to $700-750/mt FOB from $730-750/mt FOB in previous weeks, whereas the larger mills have reported substantially lower levels at $590-630/mt FOB, which is too low in the overall market range.