Speaking at the SteelOrbis 2016 Fall Conference & 75th IREPAS Meeting being held in Vienna on September 25-27, Murat Cebecioglu from Turkish steel producer ICDAS, chairman of IREPAS and also of the producers committee, commented that in general the market conditions are more stable compared to previous years, while market players from the GCC countries are a little bit more optimistic than their EU counterparts. “Things are improving slowly but surely,” he added.
Mr. Cebecioglu said that trade protectionism is a significant issue for export-dependent countries, since competition is getting tougher and the pressure on exporters is increasing. He believes that export destinations will become limited and producers will have to find new places to sell their products. He also commented on the US antidumping filing on rebar imports, recalling that three years ago the same trade case resulted in zero margins. He went on to say that this time it is political, adding that they always change the method by which they calculate margins; however, he still expects the US to come up empty-handed. He said he is confident that his company does not sell dumped goods to the US, while also stressing that the Turkish industry is certainly not subsidized.
In answer to a question regarding the granting of market economy status to China, the producers committee chairman said that the decision makers have to think twice, adding that, if China is granted market economy status, trade measures will become more difficult. Mr. Cebecioglu stated he considers that it is too early to talk about the effects of Brexit in terms of international trade, but he hinted that Turkey might benefit from it.