During the SteelOrbis Market Discussions held on Thursday, May 14 in Istanbul, participants exchanged views on the antidumping duty investigation launched by Turkey against hot rolled flat steel imports from
China,
France,
Japan,
Romania,
Russia, Slovakia and
Ukraine.
Veysel Yayan, secretary general of the Turkish Steel Producers Association (TCUD), said that the main problem facing Turkish steelmakers is the dumped goods, especially those from
China, dominating the market and posing a threat to many segments, rather than structural or organizational problems. Dr. Yayan indicated that Turkey is finding it difficult to use 100 percent of its 18 million mt annual flat rolled steel capacity. He noted that in the first quarter of the current year Turkey's steel imports from
China increased by 284 percent to 567,000 mt, "leaving no choice for Turkish producers other than filing an antidumping duty investigation".
On the other hand, Mehmet Zeren, secretary general of the Turkish Steel Pipe Manufacturers Association (CEBID), said that Turkish steel producers are not suffering due to dumping of goods and that there are not grounds for the antidumping investigation. Mr. Zeren pointed out that the reason for the increasing imports from
China in the first quarter is that the orders booked in September and October last year have recently arrived. He went on to say that the hot rolled coil import prices are in line with export prices and therefore the dumping claims are groundless.
"In the current situation, integrated mills do not have any problems in terms of competition but EAF-based mills are either making losses or selling at cost level. As a solution, the import duty on slab could be terminated and competition could be strengthened," said Mr. Zeren.