At the opening of the SteelOrbis 2018 Spring Conference & 78th IREPAS Meeting held in Warsaw on May 6-8, 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 2018 Spring Conference & 78th IREPAS Meeting has gathered over 300 participants together, including a total of 170 representatives from 48 steel producers and 62 representatives from 40 raw material suppliers.
The IREPAS chairman said that the long steel market has been enjoying a good period since the last IREPAS meeting in Athens, with the situation in China remaining the same. Chinese steel consumption is still declining and the prospects for Chinese steel exports remain low. He also said that global demand for long steel products remains elevated.
Mr. Cebecioglu stated that the steel market is dominated by uncertainty triggered by new tariffs, i.e., the Section 232 tariffs, and the safeguard investigation launched in the EU, adding that it has become extremely difficult to make business decisions. He pointed out that the most significant question heard in the industry lately is, "What is going to happen next?".
He went on to say that the last couple of months have not been the easiest for the long steel industry, adding, however, that the IREPAS platform always helped the industry to overcome difficulties. “I hope this meeting will signal for much better days to come for our industry,” the IREPAS chairman said in conclusion.