Eurofer files duty request for HRC imports from Turkey

The European Steel Association (Eurofer) has filed a registration request against HRC imports from Turkey that could make retroactive any duties set in the dumping case opened by the European Commission (EC) four months ago, S&P Global Platts learned from Veysel Yayan, general secretary of the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD), on Sept. 24.

“Eurofer knows no limit in protectionism,” Yayan commented.

The EC launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of certain hot-rolled flat products from Turkey in mid-May following a request by Eurofer. The preliminary decision in the investigation is expected to be announced on Dec. 23 to be imposed on Jan. 14, 2021. The measures could be retroactively implemented in mid-October.

Eurofer also filed a complaint at the end of May with the EC requesting a countervailing duty (CVD) investigation against allegedly subsidized hot-rolled coil imports from Turkey, as S&P Global Platts has reported.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic Turkish mills’ steel exports – particularly HRC – to their traditional export market, Europe, had already declined notably in the first seven months of the year. This decline could accelerate in the coming months due to the EU’s imposition a country-specific quota on HRC imports as of July 1, instead of a global quota. The anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations could deepen this decline.

According to Platts calculations from the latest Turkish Statistical Instute (TUIK) data, Turkish mills shipped around 1.3 million mt of HRC to the EU region in January-July 2020, amid the pandemic, annualized to 2.2 million mt.

Turkey shipped more than 3 million mt of HRC to the EU region during the 12-month period to July 2019. But, with the new quota system, Turkish mills can only ship 1.37 million mt of HRC to the EU during the July 2020 to July 2021 period, a sharp on-year decline in export volumes.

— Cenk Can