At the SteelOrbis 2018 Fall Conference & 79th IREPAS Meeting held in Istanbul on September 16-18, F.D. Baysal from Seba International, the chairman of the traders committee, said that the traders committee focused on trade measures, discussing whether any additional tariffs might come into effect. Regarding possible trade measures by Canada, Mr. Baysal said that Canada is rightfully protecting its industry from the diversion of trade which was originally targeting the US market. “I hope they will not go overboard and kill trade with other countries”, he added. The committee chairman underlined that “what is going to suffer is quality”, saying that it will be difficult to maintain protectionist measures in the long run.
The committee chairman indicated that producers in the US are enjoying their best period, but not producers in other parts of the world. “In China, the economy and production is improving. Most of the production will turn into exports. I can’t say everybody’s enjoying it,” Mr. Baysal said. He stated that he was very optimistic about the ability of China’s environmental policy to reduce production, adding though that he has learned that China will build 40 new electric arc furnaces, meaning that Chinese production capacity will increase.
Commenting on the graphite electrode situation, Baysal said that electrode prices are still high right now and that the traders committee does not expect any supply shortage. He added that the committee thinks iron ore prices will probably remain steady, while scrap prices will come under downward pressure due to the demand situation in Turkey.