Turkish pipe producers have kept their prices stable this week as the expected demand increase in the EU, the largest export destination, did not materialise.

Pipemakers’ official quotes for electric resistance welded (ERW) pipe made from S235-grade hot rolled coil were seen on Thursday mostly at $585-610/tonne fob Türkiye theoretical weight, unchanged from last week.

Although European buyers were expected to start purchasing material for the July safeguard quota term in March, as usual, uncertainty regarding quota adjustments prevented this from materialising.

European buyers seem extremely cautious since they are unsure of the amount of tax they will have to pay for clearance of April-quota imports. This comes after the European Commission cut hollow section quotas for Türkiye by 14,431 tonnes effective from 1 April. Consequently, Turkish producers have failed to conclude the expected volume of sales to the bloc, despite the EUR/USD rate providing an advantage for them.

Although there were some inquiries from the UK, volumes remained low, notes Kallanish.

Producers in southern Türkiye concluded some sales to Iraq, meanwhile.

A Marmara producer, which is preparing to halt production, is heard offering much lower values, at around $575/t fob theoretical weight, for material from stock.

For HRC, prices in Türkiye’s domestic market are at $570-585/t ex-works, depending on the mill, up from $560-575/t last week.