Turkish welded pipe exporters await implemention of EC’s new quotas

Over the past week, trading activity in Turkish welded pipe exporters’ target markets has been slack due to the Christmas holiday, while this week the market situation has remained the same due to the New Year holiday. Also, buyers are postponing their bookings due to the news regarding the European Commission’s (EC) new quotas. In these circumstances, there are few welded pipe offers being given from Turkey to the EU and most market players prefer just to monitor the market for now. Over 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 export markets has remained stable at $590-605/mt FOB.  

According to its notification, the European Commission (EC) will initially impose a quota on steel imports on country basis for the February 2, 2019-June 30, 2019 period, which will subsequently be revised for the July 1, 2019-June 30, 2020 period, and further revised to 1.16 million mt for the July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021 period. Within the scope of these quotas, quotas for welded pipe and hollow sections imports from Turkey can be seen in the chart below: