At the second session of the 5th YISAD Flat Steel Conference & SteelOrbis Market Talks held in Istanbul on May 11, moderated by Mesut Ozdol, Tayfun Iseri, director of business development and foreign subsidiaries at Colakoglu Metalurji, Guvenc Temizel, Borcelik executive committee member, and Murat Eryilmaz, general manager of SteelOrbis, talked about the future of the flat steel markets, with particular emphasis on China’s impact.
According to Mr. Eryılmaz, China has always been important for the rest of the global steel market even when it was not that big. He pointed out that, when China takes a step back from the export markets, the rest of the world breathes more easily. Chinese steel consumption was 378 million mt in 2006, climbing to 670 million mt in 2016, Mr. Eryılmaz said that any future changes in Chinese steel consumption will have a great impact on the rest of the world.
Commenting on protectionism and referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s concerns that if free trade is disrupted all the countries will be harmed, Mr. Isleri stressed that unfair trade should also be taken into consideration while at the same time supporting free trade. He went on to say that developed countries are applying protectionist measures, while developing countries mostly object to these measures, adding that Turkey should target export markets where Chinese exports are facing protectionist measures.
Mr. Temizel commented on China’s impact on Turkey, stating that Turkey is actually far from China in terms of logistics and China’s share in Turkey’s hot rolled coil imports stands at just four percent, though Turkey continues to adjust its prices in line with China.
Commenting on price volatility, Mr. Temizel said that since 2008 producers have been carrying low stocks and giving importance to cost optimization, adding that price fluctuations are more frequent, though price movements are more moderate. He stated that a certain degree of volatility has in fact a positive impact on the market, preventing prices from plunging or from rocketing.