Turkish steel producers, despite rather challenging market conditions, have managed to largely maintain their export volumes in January this year compared to the same month of the previous year, mainly owing to sustainable positions in both the flats and longs sectors.
In January, Turkey exported 542,632 mt of flat steel, up 3.2 percent year on year, according to Turkish Steel Producers’ Association data. In the meantime, overseas shipments of longs steel inched up by two percent to year on year 921,103 mt. Steel pipe exports doubled in January to 207,313 mt, most probably due to an intensification before the quota in the EU closed.
In the semis segment, export volumes dropped by 77 percent year on year in January to only 44,712 mt, with square billet naturally taking the lion’s share of the volume. “Turkey is normally squeezed by its costs and, if needed, can beat the CIS in sales to North Africa only. Unless they [mills] absolutely need to sell,” a source said. No significant rise on month-on-month basis is expected in February: however, in March the shipments volume will increase as producers sold over 150,000 mt of billet, as SteelOrbis reported earlier, mainly to Saudi Arabia and African countries.