Turkey represented 44pc of EU HRC import market in Aug

Turkey provided 44pc of the EU's wide strip imports in August, its largest share on record.

Hot-rolled coil (HRC) shipments from Turkey to the EU hit 276,497t in August, out of a total 625,741t, according to EU statistics body Eurostat. Total imports rose 17.8pc on year.

China — for all the comments about its large exports and their impact on the global market — did not reach this share of the EU import market at any point in 2015, when it exported a record 112.4mn t, or in 2016. Chinese HRC prices touched a low of almost $250/t fob in November 2015, way below current Turkish levels. The Argus fob Turkey HRC assessment was $540/t fob on 12 October, down $15/t on the week.

The growth in Turkey's share of the import market comes at a time when the European Commission is closely monitoring its shipments. The country's economic issues this year, the depreciation of the lira and the imposition of a 50pc tariff by the US under its Section 232 ruling have also drawn more attention to Turkey.

And Turkish shipments to the EU could increase in September, given the aggressive offers being made. Quotations into the Iberian peninsula were around €490/t cif today, while Italian buyers were trying to push towards €470/t cif, compared with domestic offers of around €510/t ex-works.

Turkish cold-reduced coil has been offered into northern Europe at €580/t cfr, according to German buyers, substantially below mills' target prices.

These competitive offers and slowing demand from certain sectors have dampened sentiment in the European coil market. In the summer, most buy and sell-side sources expected prices to increase in the fourth quarter because of import barriers and mill consolidation. But most now seem reluctant to go long ahead of a perceived softening in price, and are withholding purchases and trying to manage stock levels through the fourth quarter.