Turkish welded pipe segment has seen a price decrease over the week, taking into account lower demand and diverse expectations in the hot-rolled coil market. In addition to the traditional summer lull, falling scrap prices and low demand in the export markets resulted in subdued demand for pipes in the country. Buyers are not eager to restock as they believe the prices will continue to decrease. In this negative outlook, there is a great pressure on the welded pipe producers despite they have already provided discounts. On the export side, the market is in the holiday mood and the foreign buyers also want to purchase with lower prices because of the lower scrap prices.
"We cannot say that we see low demand every summer, we had really lively seasons in the previous years but this year the demand is really low and everybody says it is because of summer. But we believe lower scrap prices and buyers' price pressures are causing low demand currently. Most of the buyers believe the downturn has just started and unfortunately it will not be possible to see a real revival in demand until prices are bottoming out in the market," a producer told SteelOrbis.
Turkish welded pipe prices have decreased by $50/mt to $1,050-1,080/mt ex-works for local buyers and to $1,070-1,090/mt FOB for export destinations.
** 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.