During the SteelOrbis Fall 2014 Conference and 71st IREPAS Meeting held in Berlin, the chairman of the steel producers committee, Kim Marti, international sales director of Spanish steel producer Celsa and also chairman of IREPAS, stated that Turkey is out of the billet market and that everything has been left to the Chinese mills. Mr. Marti added that the Chinese billet suppliers gaining ground in the region will put pressure on billet prices in the Mediterranean and Black Sea region and also on scrap prices, since billets are used as a substitute for scrap. Mr. Marti, along with the other committee chairmen, agreed that some measures should be imposed against Chinese exports.
Mr. Marti pointed out that the changing billet prices will take the industry to a new setup in the coming months, though also saying that the market adjusts quickly to new realities. Rebar demand will see a slight increase compared to 2013, Mr. Marti said, adding that the Turkish mills are happy with their domestic market and are looking forward to new trade routes opening up again to Iraq.
Looking at the EU, the producers committee chairman said that while the northern EU countries are performing well, the situation is less bright for southern EU countries. For example, in Italy the steel production capacity is 7 million mt, while actual annual production stands at 1.5 million mt. Marti stated that Italian mills are taking measures by trying to export to North Africa and also by cutting their production.
Commenting on the EU mills' investments in environmental protection, Mr. Marti said that it is not something that the mills should abandon, while other committee chairmen agreed that environmental protection constitutes a social responsibility aspect of businesses and should be continued.