During the SteelOrbis 2017 Fall Conference & 77th IREPAS Meeting held in Athens on September 24-26, Murat Cebecioglu from Turkish steel producer ICDAS, chairman of IREPAS and also of the producers committee, said that the global market is in a much better shape than in 2016 thanks to improving demand and decreasing pressure from China. He stated that the general sentiment in the market is very positive, with the supply-demand balance helping the steel market to do much better business.
Mr. Cebecioglu pointed out that, amid China’s absence from the export market, Turkish producers were able to ship to the Far East. He also commented on the GCC region, indicating that the export ban in Saudi Arabia has been lifted and so there is a new player in the market.
The committee chairman said that producers do not expect steel prices to go down further; they may soften a little but they are unlikely to decrease much. Although scrap prices are down, he said that this will be offset by the increased cost of electrodes, and so there will be no change in producers’ cost structure. Mr. Cebecioglu said he believes that the electrode shortage is not a short-term problem. He expects it to continue into first half of 2019. He also warned that if it continues into 2019 it may affect steel production as well.
Commenting on the Section 232 investigation, Cebecioglu said that, even though the results have been delayed until after the planned tax reform, there is still a deadline - the report has to be presented to President Trump and then he will have to approve it within 90 days.