Turkey set to announce AD duty decision on EU HRC imports

The Turkish Trade Ministry is expected to announce the final decision on its antidumping investigation into hot-rolled coil imports from the EU and South Korea in late-June or early-July, industry sources told S&P Global Commodity Insights June 16.

After the investigation, which was launched in early 2021, the ministry’s preliminary decision released March 11 determined rates of 14.08%-49.84%.

The investigation report with the final determinations would be submitted to the Board of Evaluation of Unfair Competition after receiving opinions and claims from relevant parties for a final decision, the ministry said at that time.

The final decision was expected at the end of June, although no exact information about the result had been given yet, Turkish Steel Exporters’ Association Vice President and Colakoglu CEO Ugur Dalbeler told S&P Global June 16.

“We are expecting to see that a required answer to the EU’s unfair attitudes against Turkey in the last four years will be given by the ministry,” he said.

Turkey exported only 700,000 mt HRC in the January-April period, but imported 2.2 million mt, with Dalbeler saying the preliminary decision meant it had been officially registered that EU mills were dumping sales into Turkey.

“Although Turkish mills have been pausing their output in recent weeks due to lack of orders, Turkey has been paying millions of dollars to dumped imports also from India, Japan and China,” he said, adding that protection measures should be imposed on these countries as well, not only on imports from the EU and South Korea.

Turkish mills’ HRC prices exceeded $1,200/mt in mid-March amid the war in Ukraine, but have declined since then due to pressure from lower import offers and scrap pricing in a sluggish market.

Turkish domestic HRC was assessed at $815/mt ex-works on June 10, according to S&P Global data.

Another industry source also expected the ministry to announce its final decision soon, probably in the first weeks of July at the latest.

According to the preliminary decision, ArcelorMittal will be subject to a dumping margin of 39.83%, Tata Steel 30.64%, ThyssenKrupp and Liberty Steel 23.30%, and all other EU producers 49.84%. South Korean producer POSCO will be subject to 14.62%, Hyundai Steel 14.08%, and other South Korean producers 18.59%.

These rates could be changed in the final decision.

— Cenk Can