Turkey’s 1Q steel capacity utilisation plummets

Turkish steelmaking capacity utilisation dropped dramatically to 54pc in the first quarter, compared to 70pc in the same period of 2022, according to Turkish steel producers association TCUD.

The decrease was mainly as a result of the earthquakes that hit southern Turkey in early February, which saw producer Isdemir, several rerollers and longs mills stop operations, said Veysel Yayan, secretary general of TCUD at the EUROMETAL and YISAD steel conference this week. Capacity utilisation has been on the decline since last year, with Turkish steel producers uncompetitive in export markets. Crude steel production in January-March was 7.4mn t, down by 22pc on the year.

Capacity utilisation and output will likely continue to be low in April, with Isdemir only this week announcing it has reached pre-earthquake levels.

But steel consumption is dropping this year in Turkey too, down by 7.7pc to 5.5mn t in January-February, TCUD said. Finished steel consumption of flat products fell by 21pc on the year in the first two months to 2.7mn t. The import share of flat products consumed increased to 52pc, up from 49pc on the same time last year, amid a 28pc drop in Turkish flats production.

By Lora Stoyanova

EU HRC market activity sluggish as buyers anticipate further price decline

Sentiment in the European hot-rolled coil market remained downward on April 27 and, as a result, buyers have been avoiding bookings.

The majority of European mills have not been offering coil due to the effects of technical issues, scheduled maintenances and full order books. Only a few producers have been able to offer June rolling coil, and the majority have been booked until late August-September delivery, sources said.
As a result, lead times from European mills have been comparable to those from the overseas suppliers. And the downtrend in the Asian coil market had a direct impact on the European prices with competitive import offers.
“There are no real movements in the market,” a South European service-center source said. “Domestic mills are not really offering and the gap between domestic and import prices widens.”
“Main EU mills are not offering, and buyers do not hurry to make deals for import as they believe prices will continue to drop,” a Benelux-based service-center source said.
“Some mills try to offer higher prices, but in reality there is no chance that they would be able to sell above Eur800/mt ex-works Italy,” a trader said. “Demand is not there; customers are skeptical and they will not accept high prices.”
Platts assessed prices for imported hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe at Eur690/mt CIF Antwerp on April 27, unchanged on day. Offers have been heard at Eur680-700/mt CIF Antwerp for Asian-origin coil.
Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in the region down by Eur20/mt on day to Eur820/mt ex-works Ruhr on April 27.
The assessment was based on tradable values estimated by both buyers and sellers at Eur800-840/mt ex-works Ruhr.
Platts assessed prices for imported material in South Europe at Eur670/mt CIF Italy, stable on day.
Offers of HRC from Asia have been reported at Eur670-700/mt CIF Italy. One source also said that the non-EU mills would accept firm bids at about Eur20/mt below the offer prices.
Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in the region at Eur810/mt ex-works Italy on April 27, down by Eur15/mt on day. The assessment reflected tradable values reported at Eur800-820/mt ex-works Italy.
Author, Maria Tanatar

 

Uncertainty impacts French construction sector

Sentiment among French construction companies is now stable after deteriorating in recent months but the firms surveyed see a negative performance in their future and past activity.

Fewer companies than last month can predict the future evolution of the market due to the current uncertainty, Kallanish learns from a l’Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (Insee) report.

This month, fewer contractors than last month consider their order books to be higher than average and have orders for over eight months of work. Production capacity has been stable in April. More construction firms than last month reported slowing output because of supply difficulties.

More companies report being at the limit of their production capacity (production bottlenecks), meaning they could not produce more with their current means if they were to receive more orders. Fewer companies than in March will increase their prices over the next three months.

The French rebar market is going through a weak patch and is extremely quiet, with prices stable but sales volumes low in April. Uncertainty is causing construction companies to purchase small quantities and adopt a wait-and-see attitude. This is impacting production as local output has been reducing significantly this month, sources tell Kallanish.

Natalia Capra France