Turkey provides 37pc of EU HRC imports in Nov

Turkey accounted for over 37pc of EU hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports in November — well above the 30pc quarterly cap imposed by the European Commission on 1 October.

Turkey's deliveries actually fell by 25pc on the year from 253,446t, according to Eurostat data. The net trade balance was just 31,373t in favour of Turkey, with EU mills sending 158,501t to Turkey.

In November 2018, the trade balance was much wider, at 191,592t in favour of Turkey, with European mills sending much less. HRC imports from Turkey were strong in January-November, despite the imposition of the definitive steel safeguard — imports rose from 2.66mn t in the same period of 2018 to 2.69mn t. Over the same period overall EU HRC imports fell to 6.8mn t from 7.4mn t.

Turkish HRC arriving into Europe in November was probably booked around September, when Argus' daily Italian index averaged €434.50/t ex-works, and the weekly fob Turkey assessment averaged $440.60 (€396/t fob).

By Colin Richardson