Turkish producers will initiate an investigation into Chinese HRC imports

Turkish hot rolled coil (HRC) producers intend to petition for an anti-dumping investigation into Chinese HRC. This was announced by the executive director of Colakoglu, Ugur Dalbeler, on the sidelines of a specialized conference in Istanbul. Eurometal informs about it with the reference to Argus.Media.

Since the beginning of 2023, China’s HRC exports to Turkiye have increased sharply after the country once again postponed a planned increase in tariffs on imports of flat products. The upward trend in shipments from China is likely to continue in the coming months. Turkish producers will ask the government to take into account first quarter import figures and incoming volumes from the PRC during the investigation.

Currently, the activity of the Turkish market is limited amid the upcoming elections in the country, which should take place in the middle of May 2023. Buyers have taken a wait-and-see stance as they believe prices will continue to fall. Their stocks are at a high level – after the earthquakes in February, large volumes of steel were purchased in anticipation of a shortage. End-user demand has fallen, and the market is seeing strong import offers. According to Ugur Dalbeler, as a result, prices in Turkiye are now being corrected, and the situation resembles that observed in March-April 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Turkish steel industry does not have a stable growth trajectory, however, in the coming months recovery is expected in the steel sector, said Veysel Yayan, Secretary General of the Turkish Steel Producers Association (TCUD). With the resumption of production at the Isdemir steel plant, an increase in the volume of steel smelting is expected in April 2023. Production figures for the second half of the year will improve due to the commissioning of Tosyalı’s new plant in Sariseki.

Capacity utilization in Turkiye’s steel industry fell to 53% in January-March 2023, compared to 70% in the first three months of 2022.