Turkey’s steel exports to EU fall 20%, exports to the US slump

Turkish steel exports to the EU, one of their main markets, declined 20.2% on year in the first two months of the year, due to ongoing protection measures, while exports to the US declined more sharply, by 48.5% on year, amid Section 232 tariffs, the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD) said, without citing tonnages.

The European Commission opened an investigation at the end of February to determine whether the current system of EU steel import safeguards should continue after June 30, as reported.

TCUD said the removal of EU import safeguards and the US tariff is crucial for Turkish steel exporters.

Despite Turkish steel producers’ attempts to diversify their export destinations, mills’ overall steel exports declined by 9.4% on year to 2.6 million mt in the first two months of 2021, while revenue generated from these exports increased by 9.1% on year to $1.6 billion, amid higher steel pricing globally.

Despite the decline seen in Turkish mills’ export volumes, steel import volumes into Turkey, rose notably in February amid the sharp increase seen in domestic steel consumption.

According to the latest TCUD data, domestic finished steel consumption rose by 15% on year in February to 2.8 million mt, while steel imports increased 19.5% on year to 1.3 million mt. The value of these imports reached $874 million, up by 40.5% on year.

This increase raised Turkish steel producers’ concerns about the protection of the Turkish steel market from imports.

As a counter measure to the EC’s imposition of provisional antidumping duties of 4.8%-7.6% on imports of HRC from Turkey on Jan. 7, Turkey started a dumping investigation against HRC imports from the EU and South Korea on Jan. 9, the results of which are not expected to be announced until H2.

— Cenk Can