Demand for flat steel products in Turkey was strong in December 2019 because of restocking purchase activity as well as globally increasing prices, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday January 7.
Local producers have now filled their order books until late March, sources added.
Demand was strong in Turkey in November because of the rising prices, and
continued to be strong in December.
And in the domestic flat steel market, market participants believed that prices still have further to increase because of the high price of scrap.
Fastmarkets' daily index for
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey, was $304.67 per tonne on January 6, rising from $303.39 per tonne on January 3.
Turkish export markets were slow in December because of quota limitations and the New Year and Christmas holidays.
The European Commission (EC)
decided on October 26 to set a limit of 30% of the overall total for any country exporting hot-rolled (HR) flat steel to Europe.
In addition, European steel association Eurofer is preparing to lodge a complaint with the...