Speaking at AMM and WSD’s annual Steel Success Strategies conference in New York on June 17-19, Uğur Dalbeler, managing director of Turkish steelmaker Çolakoğlu Metalurji, pointed out that Turkish steel mills have been able to maintain production despite sluggish domestic market, as the weak Turkish lira has prevented imports. He underlined that the main problem concerned rebar, since the key export markets are blocked by trade measures. Mr. Dalbeler added that the Turkish domestic rebar market has contracted by 60 percent. Meanwhile, in the absence of rebar shipments, Turkish mills have increased their billet and wire rod exports, he noted.
The Çolakoğlu official commented on EUROFER’s seeking a country quota instead of a global one amid the increase in imports of Turkish HRC into the EU, stating that Turkey’s HRC exports are increasing because there are antidumping measures in place against China, Iran, Russia and Ukraine, which are the EU’s main import sources. He went on to say that Turkey could establish an antidumping case against the influx of HRC imports from the EU, stating that the EU has exported about 56 million mt of HRC to Turkey over the last decade, while Turkey has exported 28 million mt into the EU. Given these figures, Mr. Dalbeler said that it is not fair for EU mills to target Turkey. He added that he expects European shipments to Turkey to increase in the coming months to amid the weak domestic market in the EU.