Demand has shown a rapid recovery in the Turkish welded pipe market over the past week, taking into account the stronger scrap and hot rolled coil segments. Welded pipe prices have increased by $10/mt in the same period. Buyers have been aiming to renew their stocks before further price increases, while the expectations for the uptrend of prices are rather strong.
Many market players believe demand will improve further in the upcoming spring period and that price increases for hot rolled coils and scrap have not been reflected in pipe prices yet. "The outlook and expectations are still positive for pipes. We believe prices will increase further, but we are careful about our policies. Buyers will not accept higher prices before they see an accepted increase in HRC prices, and so we are not in a hurry to update our offers," a producer told SteelOrbis. Turkish welded pipe producers foresee that any ill-judged or early upward price movement could cause declines in demand. Local Turkish welded pipe prices are at $810-840/mt ex-works for March-April production.
On the export side, demand has also recovered slightly and deals were heard at $780/mt FOB to the EU last week. Prices have also increased by $10/mt to $800-820/mt FOB in offers for the export markets since last week. Export demand is expected to recover further with the loosening of Covid-19 measures.
** Prices are given for ERW pipes and hollow sections with 2-4 mm wall thickness made from HRC of S235 grade as per EN 10219, on theoretical weight basis.