Day: 28 December 2021

Turkey’s cold-rolled coil exports jumped to 547,800 mt in January-October 2021, 83% higher year on year, as South European demand supported Turkish mills’ export volumes, despite EU quotas, according to the latest monthly Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data.

The downfall seen in demand in export markets in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic is another reason for this sharp year-on-year rise, sources noted.

According to the TUIK data, Italy became Turkey’s main CRC export market by far in the first ten months at 165,800 mt, three-fold higher on year, while Spain was Turkey’s second-largest CRC buyer in that period at 68,500 mt, double year on year.

Turkish mills’ CRC exports to Belgium also rose year on year to 51,500 mt in January-October, more than double on year.

North American demand also supported Turkish mill export volumes in 2021. Canada became another top CRC market for Turkish mills in January-October 2021 at 45,000 mt, around fourfold higher on year, while the US was Turkey’s fifth-largest CRC customer at 41,000 mt in that period, sharply higher than 17,300 mt exported to that country in the first ten months of the previous year.

Turkish mills also shipped 31,700 mt of CRC to Bulgaria, while shipments to Romania totaled 24,500 mt.

Turkish mills’ other CRC exports in Jan-Oct 2021 were: Iraq (16,700 mt), Portugal (13,500 mt), Poland (13,200 mt) and the UK (12,200 mt), the latest data showed.

— Cenk Can

The US and EU will seek to conclude negotiations by Oct. 31, 2023, on global steel and aluminum arrangements to restore market-oriented conditions and support the reduction of carbon intensity across modes of steel and aluminum production, according to a proclamation issued by President Joe Biden Dec. 27.

In October, the US and EU said they would negotiate further arrangements for trade in the steel and aluminum sectors that take account both global non-market excess capacity as well as the carbon intensity of these industries. The US and the EU agreed to form a technical working group to enhance their cooperation and facilitate negotiations on these arrangements, and will invite like-minded economies to participate in the arrangements, they said.

The deal between the two parties to target these issues is part of a larger agreement reached in late-October to replace the existing US Section 232 tariffs with a tariff-rate quota for EU countries beginning Jan. 1. The proclamation issued by Biden Dec. 27 makes the change official.

From Jan. 1, 2022, forward, a tariff-rate quota system will replace the existing 25% steel tariff and 10% aluminum tariff that former President Donald Trump imposed on EU imports under Section 232 legislation in March 2018.

The aggregate annual steel import volume under the TRQ is set at 3.3 million mt across 54 product categories and allocated on an EU member state basis, in line with the 2015-2017 historical period.

The aggregate annual import volume is set at 18,000 mt for unwrought aluminum under two product categories, and 366,000 mt for semi-finished aluminum under 14 product categories. These import volumes also will be allocated on an EU member state basis but will be in line with the 2018-19 historical period, with the exceptions of foil, which will use 2021 annualized data.

— Justine Coyne