Turkish steel producers are considering filing an anti-dumping duty petition against Japanese hot rolled coil (HRC) imports, said Ugur Dalbeler, CEO of Turkish steelmaker Colakoglu Metalurji, at the 8th SteelOrbis Turkish Steel Market Conference held in Istanbul on November 29.
This year, Japanese HRC imports to Turkey have indicated a significant increase and reached 350,000 metric tons, said Mr. Dalbeler, adding that a part of this volume is shown as alloyed products in import records. Remarking that the average import price of these materials is $583/mt CFR, the Colakoglu Metalurji CEO stated that this price is even lower than the HRC import price from Ukraine.
Answering SteelOrbis' questions on the sidelines of the conference, an executive representing one of major Japanese major steelmakers in Turkey, who preferred to remain unnamed, confirmed that they have sold 300,000 metric tons of HRC at about $580/mt CFR to two customers in Turkey, one a cold rolled coil (CRC) producer and the other a major steel pipe manufacturer. The source said that the freight rate from Japan to Turkey is currently at about $40/mt and that $540/mt FOB is a reasonable price for HRC.
Currently, domestic HRC prices in Japan are standing at JPY 62,000-64,000/mt ($605-625/mt), depending on the region of the country.