At the 4th SteelOrbis Turkish Steel Market Conference held in Istanbul on November 13, Kemal Sarac, deputy president of the Turkish Steel
Pipe Producers' Association, gave a presentation entitled "The Impact of the Crisis and Expectations". In his presentation, Mr. Sarac discussed the evolution of the Turkish steel
pipe industry, the work of his association and named the current problems facing the domestic steel
pipe industry.
Stating that the global economic crisis caused the world steel
pipe industry, which had posted growth for the previous five years, to register fluctuations in output levels, Mr. Saraç said that the steel
pipe industry encountered difficulties arising from the uncertain market conditions for flat products, which have a wider
consumption than long products with their use in the
automotive and
construction sectors and also for industrial purposes. According to Mr. Sarac, the challenging conditions in the flat steel sector increased as the interest of financial bodies in the steel industry weakened during the crisis. Turkish steel
pipe exports, meanwhile, recorded losses in the period in question due to high-cost inventories, although the Turkish steel
pipe producers had switched from
Europe, where the demand for steel pipes had significantly declined, to other markets.
Mr. Sarac told the attendees that the Turkish steel
pipe industry had been established in the 1960s and that the output of the industry had increased continuously since then. Welded
pipe output accounts for 80 percent of
Turkey's total steel
pipe production. Stating that the steel
pipe consumption rates in
Turkey are much more lower than the European levels, Mr. Sarac said that
Turkey is an active player in the steel
pipe export markets and remarked that the country's traditional steel
pipe market,
Europe, has been replaced by North
Africa and the
Middle East in recent years.
Kemal Sarac also mentioned the problems that the Turkish steel
pipe industry is currently facing. He said that
Turkey's domestic steel
pipe producers are having problems with raw material supplies, as the only flat steel producer in
Turkey, namely
Erdemir, focuses on the export markets. Mr. Sarac also said that the imposition of import duty on flat steel products, while imports of steel pipes are tax-free, results in an unfair playing field for local producers and creates a disadvantageous situation as regards employment.
Defining the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) cases conducted by the US and the European Union against Turkish steel
pipe imports as being "without foundation", Mr. Sarac explained that the EU has canceled the cases before the final decision in the reviews, and thus the threat of reopening of the cases, before the sunset review period, still exists.
Underlining the advantageous location of
Turkey in the center of a region where numerous energy projects are being implemented, Mr. Sarac recalled the importance of Turkish steel
pipe producers' contribution to these projects, as is the case in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.