According to a notice by the Turkish Ministry of Trade, Turkey has set import quotas for certain steel products and will collect 25 percent import duty if the quotas are exceeded. The measures will be in place for 200 days as of September 20. Products subject to the provisional safeguard measures are flat steel products, long steel products, pipes and hollow sections, stainless steel and steel products for railways. According to the intermediate survey report published last week by the Turkish Ministry of Commerce, Turkey’s imports of flat steel have increased by eight percent between in the 2013-17 period, while imports of steel pipe and hollow sections have risen by 17 percent in the same period.
The quota of 273.901 metric tons for steel pipe and hollow sections has taken effect as of today, September 20. As mentioned, quotas will be in place for 200 days, and if they are exceeded a 25 percent import duty will be enforced. Meanwhile, the quota implemented for flat steel imports is 3,117,670 tons. It is observed that Turkey’s flat steel imports totaled 4,613,000 metric tons in the January-July 2018 period. In the same period, Turkey’s steel pipe and hollow section imports totaled 265,000 metric tons.
Market sources state that the exclusion from the import duties of the steel products used within the scope of Turkey’s inward processing regime (under this scheme mills have to give a commitment to export the finished products they produce from imported billet) will eliminate the potentially negative effects of this decision on pipe producers which use imported raw material. However, market sources also believe that small companies will feel negative effects since they are not benefiting from the regime in question.
On the other hand, unverified reports of an investigation into hollow section imports from Turkey by the European Union (EU) have caused increased apprehensions among Turkish exporters. The EU opened investigations into Turkish hollow sections several times before, but was forced to cancel them each time. Details concerning this rumoured investigation would be expected to be announced at the end of September.
The Turkish welded pipe market remains sluggish due to the weakness of demand from both export and domestic markets. Amid the failed expectations of a revival in Turkey’s welded pipe exports, Turkish producers’ offer range for ERW pipes and hollow sections with 2-4 mm wall thickness made from hot rolled coil (HRC) of S235 grade as per EN 10219 to their export markets has decreased by $10/mt week on week to $630-660/mt FOB. However, expectations of a further fall in Turkey’s welded pipe export prices have now dissipated after the notice issued by the Turkish Ministry of Trade.