At the opening of the SteelOrbis 2019 Spring Conference & 80th IREPAS Meeting held in Barcelona on April 7-9, Murat Cebecioglu, chairman of IREPAS, the global association of producers and exporters of long steel products, and also export manager of Turkish steelmaker ICDAS, welcomed all the participants to the event. The SteelOrbis 2019 Spring Conference & 80th IREPAS Meeting has gathered together almost 450 participants, including a total of 130 representatives from 48 steel producers from 22 countries and 70 representatives from 40 raw material suppliers.
The IREPAS chairman stated that IREPAS has always supported free and fair trade in steel, adding that it is very concerned by recent developments such as duties and tariffs which are both unjustified and against World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and principles. He went on to point out that such protectionist measures had triggered counter measures from other countries.
Mr. Cebecioğlu said that, despite the protectionist measures, the industry is in a positive mood due to good demand. The IREPAS chairman said that, if it were not for these measures, market conditions would be much better. He underlined that the countries which have imposed protectionist measures are enjoying margins that have never been better, while exporters continue to suffer because of this protectionism and the current political mood.
The ICDAS official said that, although the current period is not an easy one, the steel industry has always been very successful in responding in difficult times, with IREPAS always being there to support the industry.