With the EC’s new quota regulation, Turkey could face a 58% on-year decline in steel exports to the EU region, Adnan Aslan, chairman of Turkish Steel Exporters’ Association (CIB), told local news agency Dunya adding that Turkish mills’ overall steel exports in the first half of 2020 fell 10% on year to 9.7 million mt, due to trade barriers and the pandemic.
“As EU reduced Turkey’s steel quotas, Turkish mills’ steel exports to the EU region could fall as much as 52%, while protection measures in the US, Morocco, Egypt and United Arab Emirates are also limiting exports to these countries,” Aslan said.
Turkish mills’ hot-rolled coil exports probably will be exempted from the new quota regulation, as the EU imposed a country-specific quota on HRC imports on July 1, instead of a global quota. Turkey’s HRC exports to the EU region could fall by as much as 1.2 million/mt year to 1.3 million mt/year.
However, as Chinese support packages raised steel consumption in the Chinese market notably, China’s partial withdrawal from the export markets could create an opportunity for Turkish mills, the CIB chairman observed.
Aslan is expecting a recovery in the Turkish steel sector especially with the support of strong domestic demand. “It is important to establish the required mechanisms to direct the home demand to the domestic market in this regard,” he noted.
— Cenk Can
