Turkish hot-rolled coil (HRC) exports surged in August by 45pc on the month and by 16pc on the year to 303,140t, supported by sales to Italy.
Turkey benefits from having its own HRC quota allocation in the EU, rather than being categorised under "other countries". This allows Turkish exporters to ship material consistently throughout the quarter, not just when quotas reset, although half of Turkey's fourth-quarter HRC quota was already used on the first day of the quarter.
Turkey shipped more than 98,000t of HRC to Italy in August, followed by cargoes to Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Romania ranging from 20,000-31,000t each. In contrast, cold-rolled coil (CRC) exports dropped significantly in August, by 47pc on the year and by 32.4pc on the month to 43,000t. The decline is linked to the EU's cap on CRC quotas for "other countries", which reduced Turkish sales to the bloc. But CRC exports to Ukraine rose by 90pc on the year, despite dropping by 18.5pc from July to 8,000t. This increase is tied to strong Turkish hot-dipped galvanised (HDG) sales to Ukraine, with exporters bundling CRC shipments alongside HDG cargoes.
HDG exports to Ukraine more than doubled on the year in August, and rose by 67pc on the month to 30,800t out of a total 130,000t HDG exported. EU quotas and anti-dumping (AD) duties have limited HDG sales during the second and third months of each quarter. To offset this, Turkish exporters have shifted focus to alternative markets such as Ukraine and the UK — the latter exempted Turkey from HDG quotas in July. And the EU removed the HDG 4B quota cap for "other countries" in July, benefiting Turkey, which is exempt from AD duties in this category.
On the import side, Turkish HRC imports fell by 30pc on the month in August to 310,000t, mainly because of reduced Chinese shipments as higher offers made them uncompetitive. But imports were 16pc higher on the year, supported by over 83,000t of Russian supplies.
CRC and HDG imports also declined in August because of a continuing AD investigation into Chinese and South Korean CRC, HDG, and pre-painted galvanised iron shipments. The investigation is expected to conclude by the end of this year, and market participants had anticipated preliminary duties earlier, which delayed orders.
| Turkish flat steel imports | t | ||
| Aug 25 | ±% Aug 24 | ±% Jul 25 | |
| HRC | 309,700 | 15.8 | -30.3 |
| CRC | 85,630 | -7.0 | -31.4 |
| HDG | 111,349 | -16.6 | -21.4 |
| Plate | 36,593 | -54.4 | -52.7 |
| Slab | 411,472 | 35.9 | 40.3 |
| — GTT | |||
| Turkish flat steel exports | t | ||
| Aug 25 | ±% Aug 24 | ±% Jul 25 | |
| HRC | 303,137 | 15.8 | 44.8 |
| CRC | 42,860 | -47.3 | -32.4 |
| HDG | 130,136 | 59.8 | 67.2 |
| Plate | 41,274 | 20.4 | -6.7 |
| — GTT | |||
