Turkish rebar export prices inch down amid weak European demand
Platts assessed Turkish exported rebar at $575/mt FOB, down by $2.50/mt July 16 as Turkish mills returned from the Democracy and National Unity public holiday July 15 to weak demand from the buy side.
Throughout the day, multiple sources indicated a range of workable levels and reported varying mill offers.
Tradable values were indicated ranging from $570-$575/mt FOB while mill offers were heard at $575-$585/mt FOB, with most reported at a range of $580-$590/mt FOB. A bid was reported at $570/mt FOB.
“It’s a bit early to comment,” a Turkish-based trader said, adding that for any activity to take place “usually takes one to two weeks after the vacation or a faster scrap market.”
The trader saw near-term sentiment as bearish amid slow trading.
A Turkish mill source reported that mills were able to offer at $575/mt FOB, indicating that achieving $570/mt FOB would be possible, but other mill sources did not repeat this level.
Another mill source from Marmara reported a bid level at $570/mt FOB, while offer levels were minimum at $580/mt FOB, adding that no rebar deals have been heard in recent days.
“From last week nothing has changed,” another trader said, adding that rebar tradables were at $580/mt FOB.
“It seems that the mills are currently observing the market and their product sales.” an EU-based trader source said, adding that the August cargoes have not been completed for Turkish mills, indicating that there may still be ongoing negotiations and transactions.
In related markets, scrap import prices to Turkey remained stable July 16. Platts assessed Turkish imports of premium heavy melting scrap at $390/mt CFR Turkey on the day. Platts assessed the daily outright spread between Turkish export rebar and import scrap at $185/mt July 16, narrowing by $2.50/mt.
Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Semra Ugur
Çolakoğlu focuses on AI-supported sustainable steelmaking projects
Large Turkish steelmaker Çolakoğlu Metalurji has focused on artificial intelligence-supported sustainable production projects while increasing its renewable energy investments, Operations Director Ozgur Ozsoy said.
According to a July 5 statement from Çolakoğlu, citing Ozsoy’s comments to local magazine ST industry’s July edition, the company has new projects to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by using AI-connected digital solutions and new renewable energy investments.
“We have reached the final stage in our AI-supported process control project in our meltshop, which will ensure process stability in production,” Ozsoy said.
Çolakoğlu had achieved a heat size of 298.2 mt at its new vacuum degassing plant, Ozsoy said, adding that it has also reached a carbon content of 5 parts per million (ppm) after decarburization, a world record.
He did not, however, provide the company’s current carbon emission levels.
Çolakoğlu is currently able to produce special steels like IF grades, ULC grades and stainless steel at its plant.
Colakoglu commissioned its second reheating furnace in June to increase its hot-rolling capacity and meet demand more effectively.
The company currently has a bar output capacity of 1 million mt/year and an HRC production capacity of 4.5 million mt/year.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Turkish domestic HRC at $585/mt EXW on June 28, down 18.2% since the start of 2024.
CBAM to change dynamics of global steel trade: Kardemir CEO
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the EU’s Green Deal are expected to change the dynamics of the global trade in the coming years, as producers’ which will not invest in reducing their carbon emissions will lose their competitiveness due to the new carbon tax burden, Ismail Demir, chairman of Turkey’s largest integrated long steel producer Kardemir said.
“Turkey, which is making half of its exports to the European Union, could not remain out of these regulations,” Demir said in a statement that he made at the company’s 29th Ordinary General Meeting May 30.
Following the announcement of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) by the European Union, Turkey unveiled its ‘Green Deal Action Plan’ in July 2021 as a road map to realize the transformation of Turkey to a more source-efficient and a green economy.
Highlighting that CBAM will directly affect steel, aluminum, cement and fertilizer sectors, Demir said they have focused on low-carbon steel production in recent years.
“In this regard, our studies are ongoing to build our new planned blast furnace with a technology that fits our green steel target,” he said, adding that the new blast furnace will raise Kardemir’s crude steel capacity by 1 million mt/year to 3.5 million mt/year.
Kardemir is aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 15% until 2030 and to become carbon neutral by 2053, the company said, without citing the current carbon emission level of Kardemir.
Kardemir currently has a 2.5 million mt/year liquid steel capacity and produces billet, rebar, wire rod, sections and angles. It has expanded its product range over the last few years to include rails, railway wheels, thick wire rods, and heavy sections.
Turkish mills’ rebar export prices inched lower on May 30, amid lower mill offer prices and lower-priced deals in a slow market.
Platts assessed Turkish exported rebar at $572.50/mt FOB May 30, down $2.50/mt on day, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.
Cenk Can
British Steel bags Turkey rail contract
British Steel has won a multi-million-pound contract to supply rail to Turkey. It will deliver tens of thousands of tonnes of track for a new high-speed electric railway connecting Mersin with the cities of Adana, Osmaniye and Gaziantep.
It will help create a lower-emission transport link between Turkey’s second-largest container port and inland cities more than 150 miles away, with the project expected to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 150,000 tonnes/year, the steelmaker says.
UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK government’s export credit agency, has underwritten €781 million ($847m) of financing to support construction of the 286km railway.
“This is the start of what we expect to be a new unique partnership between British Steel, UKEF and international contractors,” British Steel commercial director – rail Craig Harvey says in a note sent to Kallanish. “The ability to combine world-leading quality rail with a world-leading finance solution for supply into global markets and networks is an unparalleled supply chain solution. Looking forward, we are very excited about what this will achieve.”
The first shipments of rail will be transported from British Steel to Turkey in the second quarter. It is manufactured in Scunthorpe and is 60E1 in grade R260, each at 36 metres in length.
Adam Smith Poland
Protectionism, geopolitics, economic challenges weigh on longs: Irepas
Driven by tightening monetary policies by major central banks, the long steel market has been slowing amid weak demand, putting immense pressure on prices.
The ongoing geopolitical and global economic challenges, as well as protectionism are squeezing emerging economies like Turkey, notes Kallanish.
Protectionism still prevails in the EU and US, and new sanctions on Russian semis and raw materials introduced by the EU, US and Canada will create more complications for steel exporters using Russian substrate, said Irepas chairman Murat Cebecioglu during the association’s Istanbul meeting this week attended by Kallanish.
“The EU has extended its safeguard measures for another year, proving that world trade is no longer as the Uruguay Round defined it. It will continue with its protectionist structure, exerting pressure on developing countries. The situation in Ukraine seems to be without end. The new restrictions on Russian-origin steel and raw materials, to be introduced by the US and the EU, indicate that we will witness more circumvention cases in the coming period,” Cebeciolu observed.
“Furthermore, the CBAM in the EU will replace the current safeguard measures in the region within 12 months. Direct and indirect subsidies and state aid will allow the US and European steel industries to remain profitable … The competition in open markets is very tough as Asian prices are very competitive,” he added.
“China and its exports have a major influence on the global market. So far, all the stimulus packages introduced in China have had no impact on its exports, affecting global steel prices. Egypt, the Gulf Cooperation Council member countries and Algeria have become exporters. Since these countries are not subject to protectionist measures for the time being, they are exporting anywhere they can, especially taking shares from Turkey, which is being squeezed by protectionism all over the place,” Cebecioglu continued. 
The future involves many unknowns. The Turkish government’s new orthodox monetary policy nevertheless offers hope. The domestic market is doing fairly well, but Turkish mills are being squeezed by electricity costs, making it impossible to compete in export markets against the oil and gas-rich countries’ steel producers, Cebecioglu concluded.
Burak Odabasi Turkey
Summer demand slump downs Turkey’s coated steel prices
Turkey’s coated flat steel market experienced reduced activity on Monday, with prices slightly down due to sluggish demand both domestically and in export markets amid the ongoing holiday season, market participants inform Kallanish.
Availability of September-shipment coated steel from domestic mills exerted some pressure on prices. However, this situation was anticipated and therefore the impact on prices was limited.
On exports, some producers expected increased demand for Turkey-origin coated steel from Ukraine, whose buyers will use this to substitute for China-origin supply after Ukraine imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty on Chinese product effective 12 August.
Turkish domestic prices
| Product | Price, ex-works, cash | W-o-w change, $/t |
| CRC 1 mm | $760-800/t | -20/+10 |
| HDG 0.50mm Z60 | $830-855/t | 0/-15 |
| HDG 0.50mm Z100 | $830-875/t | 0/-15 |
| PPGI 0.50mm Ral 9002 5+15 | $925-980/t | 0/-10 |
| HDG 2.00mm Z60 | $760-800/t | -10-15 |
Source: Kallanish market survey
Elina Virchenko UAE
