Murat Cebecioğlu, chairman of IREPAS, the global association for longs exporters and producers, has opened the SteelOrbis Fall 2023 Conference & 89th IREPAS Meeting taking place in İstanbul during September 17-19. The conference has attracted over 750 participants, including 217 representatives from 61 steel producers from 20 countries and 105 delegates from 55 raw material suppliers. In his welcome speech, the IREPAS chairman stated that the long steel market has been facing unfair trade conditions, a lack of wire rod and rebar demand, and slowdown in trade.
Mr. Cebecioğlu stated that the offers of new exporters, which are not subject to safeguard measures such as antidumping and countervailing duties, are aggressive, damaging the fairness of trading conditions in the market. While the level of competition in the market is strong, protectionism in the EU has been extended, he noted. Saying that world trade is no longer as it used to be, he pointed out that the war in Ukraine does not seem like it will end soon. In line with Russia’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine, the EU and the US are implementing sanctions against semi-finished products and raw materials from the country.
Regarding the increasing exports from Asia at aggressive prices, the IREPAS chairman stated that China’s steel exports are having an impact on steel prices and on competition in the market. He ended his welcome speech by describing the current situation in the global market as unstable, despite some positive developments.