Turkish exporters: $558 million of exports at risk due to US investigations

Commenting on the antidumping duty investigation petition filed by US mills against Turkish and Mexican rebar imports, the Turkish Steel Exporters' Association (CIB) has pointed out that, when the OCTG antidumping investigation in the US is also taken into account, the Turkish steel industry faces the risk of losing $558 million worth of exports to the US.
 
Referring to the antidumping duty investigations as non-tariff trade barriers, Ekinci stated that Turkish steel industry exports have declined since the beginning of the current year mainly due to the contraction in global markets, lower commodity prices, the US embargo on Iran, the economic crisis and political tensions.
 
Mr. Ekinci went on to say that Turkey is a major rebar exporter in the world and that US producers see the country as a commercial threat. He added that he believes that the investigation will come to a conclusion in favor of Turkey.
 
According to CIB data, Turkey's rebar exports to the US during the first eight months of 2013 amounted to 422,000 mt with an export value of $245 million, indicating a year-on-year increase of 25 percent in terms of volume. Turkey's rebar export value in January-August 2012 had totaled $234 million.