Turkey imported 682,071 tonnes of flat steel in March 2018, down by 6.26% year-on-year from 727,647 tonnes in March 2017, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).
Import volumes are expected to decrease further because of an investigation into the country's steel imports that started last week, and which will include hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC), coated coils, and alloy flat steel products.Turkish market participants believe that the investigation started just in time because Turkey may become an open market for redirected volumes of cheap imports if threatened import tariffs are imposed by the United States and the EU.Also, demand for locally produced flat steel is stronger than for imports because of the competitive prices in the country.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for Turkish domestic HRC was $620-625 per tonne ex-works on April 27, while the weekly price assessment for Turkish HRC imports was $610-630 per tonne cfr on the same day.MarchThe imported...