Turkish pipe exporters are seen continuing to decrease their prices amid bearish sentiment in the global market.

Current offers for electric resistance welded (ERW) pipe made from S235 grade hot rolled coil stand mostly at $845-860/tonne fob Turkey theoretical weight, down from $860-880/t last week. However, prices outside of this range are also available from some producers, depending on their production cost and utilisation level.

While demand, in general, remains insufficient, Turkish producers are seen receiving inquiries from the EU, the Middle East and Africa. Buyers, however, are giving very low bids due to negative sentiment in both the HRC and pipe markets.

A Turkish pipe producer tells Kallanish: “There are numerous problems in both domestic and export markets. We are going through tough days and the near-term outlook does not seem very bright.”

Many regular EU buyers of Turkish pipe are seen to have directed their purchases to other origins in order to avoid the 25% safeguard duty they have been obliged to pay for previous bookings.

A Turkish producer comments: “My regular buyers in Belgium and Germany have been forced to pay the duties in both the July and October quota terms. Now, they are even buying from other sources or bidding at very low levels in order to offset the 25% duty.”

“Besides, the bearish sentiment in the European HRC market is preventing buyers from purchasing today as they expect further price declines,” adds another producer.

While Turkish producers are busy with shipments for the January quota term, they are experiencing major problems in this regard as freight has more than trebled and ship nomination has become much harder.

One producer says he was forced to pay $135/t for freight to the UK despite obtaining an initial quote of $90/t.

Another producer bemoans: “Just a year ago, we used to pay $25-30/t for freight for our shipments to Spain. Now we are thankful if we can secure $90/t.”

In the Turkish HRC market, meanwhile, domestic mills’ offer prices are seen to have decreased by $10/t since last week. They are at $860-890/t ex-works, depending on supplier and volume.