Colakoglu CEO demands EU steel quota response
Turkey should respond to the EU steel quota system, Turkish long and flat products producer Colakoglu Metalurji's chief executive Ugur Dalbeler said on the sidelines of the World Steel Dynamics conference in Milan.
"The decision to impose a quota system contravenes the agreement signed by the European Coal and Steel Community in 1996," Dalbeler said. Steel exports to Turkey from the EU rose to 46.7mn t in 2017 from 36.4mn t in 2008, trade data show. And 2018 was the first year Turkey was a net exporter to the EU, rather than a net importer."The agreement worked as long as Turkey was a market for the EU," Dalbeler continued. "When the trade balance inverted, the EU was no longer happy."
Turkey officially exhausted its quota for rebar sales to the EU market on 11 October, just over three months after they opened. The original quota allowance of 301,537t will only be renewed on 1 July 2020. Turkish rebar is generally more price competitive for EU buyers and is Cares-approved, meaning it can be used in the UK. Yesterday's Turkey rebar assessment stood at $408.80/t fob.
Turkey has no individual country quota for hot rolled coil (HRC) sales and can access the 2.7mn t quota that renews every quarter. But it cannot send any more than 30pc of this amount, or around 810,036t. Turkey exported 264,874t of HRC in July and August, trade data show, indicating it will not exceed its quota allowance for HRC if it continues to export at this rate. The Argus weekly Turkey HRC assessment stood at $395/t fob today, while the Argus daily Northwest Europe HRC assessment reached $464.66/t ex-works today.
Turkey also exports cold rolled coils (CRC) to the EU under the "other countries" quota, which currently stands at 163,279t. Out of the original 434,253t, Turkey can sell a maximum 130,275t per quarter into the EU market. Turkey shipped 48,575t of CRC to Europe in July, which fell to 13,794t in August. Average CRC sales in 2018 were around 25,000 t/month, meaning Turkey will not exceed its quota allowance if it continues selling at the same rate to the EU.
Related news posts
Japan’s Nippon Steel halts output at Kimitsu plant
Japan’s Nippon Steel halts output at Kimitsu plant
Tokyo, 15 April (Argus) — Japan's largest steel mill Nippon Steel has partially suspended production today at its Kimitsu plant in eastern Chiba prefecture because of operational issues. Nippon Steel suspended production at some of its blast furnaces in the plant on the back of operational issues, said the company, without disclosing further details. The suspension is temporary, a company representative told Argus , although it remains unclear when the plant will resume production. Operational issues can come in a variety of forms, the representative added, including the quality of the raw materials. The firm has not disclosed output volumes at the Kimitsu plant. Nippon Steel's overall crude steel output for the April 2023-March 2024 fiscal year is estimated at 35mn t , according to the firm, up by 2.2pc from a year earlier. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
G7 leaders to meet over Iran's attack on Israel
G7 leaders to meet over Iran's attack on Israel
Dubai, 14 April (Argus) — Leaders of the G7 will meet today, 14 April, to co-ordinate a diplomatic response to Iran's overnight air attack on Israel, which ushered a new phase in a six-month conflict that is threatening regional escalation. G7 presidency Italy "has organized a conference at leaders' level for the afternoon of today," Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni said on X, formerly Twitter. US President Joe Biden has pledged a co-ordinated G7 diplomatic response and condemned the Iranian assault. Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles against Israel on the evening of 13 April, according to the country's state-owned news agency Irna. Almost all were intercepted before they reached Israeli airspace and there were no fatalities reported by Israel. One civilian was injured and an air force base in southern Israel was lightly damaged, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The Iranian attack came in response to a suspected Israeli air strike on the vicinity of Iran's embassy compound in Damascus, Syria, on 1 April. Tehran's foreign minster Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Iran considers this to be the end of its operation. But energy markets, which have been supported in recent weeks by a geopolitical risk premium, will face a week of uncertainty about whether Israel will retaliate. The front-month June Ice Brent contract was trading at $90.45/bl before markets closed for the weekend, and hit a more-than five month high of $92.18/bl on Friday, 12 April. Israeli officials said the attack was "a severe and dangerous escalation" from Tehran. Israel's war cabinet is meeting today to discuss a response. "We will build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the fashion and timing that is right for us," said cabinet minister Benny Gantz. The US is urging Israel to claim victory for its defence, in an apparent effort to discourage Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government from feeling compelled to retaliate. While noting that Israel ultimately will make the decision as to how to respond, White House national security communications co-ordinator John Kirby, in a televised interview today, hailed what he called Israel's "incredible military achievement" in defending itself against the attack. Very little managed to penetrate the defensive shield, "and the damage was extraordinarily light," he said. The US military played a role in helping to defend against the attack, bringing down "several dozens of drones and missiles," Kirby said. UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said the Royal Air Force shot down "a number of Iranian attack drones". Israel's western allies are urging it to show restraint as they try to prevent a wider conflict in the Middle East, which could directly affect oil producers and send energy prices soaring. President Biden is especially keen to avoid such a scenario in an election year. By Bachar Halabi and David Ivanovich Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Gunvor set for buying spree after windfall: CEO
Gunvor set for buying spree after windfall: CEO
London, 12 April (Argus) — Trading firm Gunvor plans to use part of a massive earnings windfall over the past two years to build out its asset base, its chief executive Torbjörn Törnqvist told Argus . "Today, we are under-invested in assets so we will change that," Törnqvist said, adding that investments would be broad based and to some extent opportunistic. "We will employ quite a lot of capital in investments." Independent commodity trading companies are sitting on unprecedented piles of cash after two years of bumper earnings arising from supply chain disruptions and market volatility. While Geneva-based Gunvor is smaller than its peers Vitol, Trafigura and Mercuria, it is still a huge company by most metrics. It reported revenues of $127bn in 2023 and a profit of $1.25bn, following a record $2.36bn in 2022. It has kept most of its earnings in house and had an equity position of almost $6.16bn by the end of 2023 — its highest ever. Törnqvist is eyeing further growth. "We will definitely be a much bigger company, that I can say," he replied when asked where he saw Gunvor in 10 years' time. "I think we will grow in tune with the [energy] transition." Trading firms are looking for ways to keep their competitive advantage, particularly given the uncertainties associated with the energy transition. One emerging trend is an appetite for infrastructure. Vitol is in the process of buying a controlling stake in Italian refiner Saras, which operates the 300,000 b/d Sarroch refinery in Sardinia. Trafigura said this week that it is in talks to buy ExxonMobil's 133,000 b/d Fos refinery on the French Mediterranean coast. Part of the rationale behind these moves is to increase optionality and take advantage of the loss of Russian products to the European market, as well the closure of large chunks of local refining capacity. Gunvor owns the landlocked 100,000 b/d Ingolstadt refinery in Germany and a 75,000 b/d refinery in Rotterdam, where it plans to shift away from fossil fuel use. "Many oil refineries have been up for sale and still are," Törnqvist said. Asked if Gunvor was looking for something similar, he said the company is interested in the "right opportunity" whether in upstream, downstream, midstream or shipping. "It all feeds into what we are doing and all supports our underlying trading," he said. But Törnqvist suspects a lot of Gunvor's growth will come from gas and power — areas where trading companies are already seeing rising profits. The company made its first investment in a power generation asset late in 2023, when it agreed to buy BP's 75pc stake in the 785MW Bahia de Bizkaia combined-cycle gas turbine plant in Bilbao, Spain. It has signed a slew of LNG offtake agreements in the past year and continues to grow its LNG tanker fleet . "We're building logistical capabilities in LNG," Törnqvist said. "Oil is here to stay" Törnqvist said Gunvor is well placed to navigate the energy transition, and is stepping up investments in renewables and biofuels and expanding into carbon and metals trading. "There will be disruptions, there will be different paths to the transition in different parts of the world which go at different paces and have different priorities and ways to deal with it," he said. "This will create opportunities." But Törnqvist is clear that oil and gas will remain an integral part of Gunvor's business. "We feel that oil is here to stay," he said. "And it will grow for several years." By Aydin Calik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan’s Daihatsu to reopen Kyushu, Osaka car plants
Japan’s Daihatsu to reopen Kyushu, Osaka car plants
Tokyo, 12 April (Argus) — Japanese car manufacturer Daihatsu will resume operations at its Kyushu and Osaka plants from 6 and 7 May respectively, which will mark a full reopening of its domestic facilities. Production volumes at these plants were undisclosed. Daihatsu suspended all of its operations in December 2023 after it was accused of tampering with safety test results. It resumed partially in February but most of its production facilities, including its major plant in Osaka, remained closed. Daihatsu produced nothing in January and 6,692 units in February, less than one-tenth of its production a year earlier. This led to year-on-year declines in Japan's total car output in January and February . By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more