Demand for flat steel in Turkey was only moderate in July because of the seasonal summer slowdown, market participants told Fastmarkets.
And local producers have now filled their order books until late September, they said on Friday August 2.Turkish steel prices increased on May 17 after a US import duty applied at a rate of 50%, introduced in August 2018, was cut back to the previous level of 25%.But there was not enough demand to support the price increases, and the Turkish export markets were also slow in July because of summer holidays, so prices could not increase significantly during the month.Crude steel outputTurkey produced 14.30 million tonnes of crude steel in January-June 2019, down by 9.97% from the 15.88 million tonnes produced in the first five months of 2018, according to the Turkish Steel Producers Association (T???oeD).Billet production was 10.44 million tonnes over the period, down by 17.87% year-on-year from 12.72 million tonnes.Slab production, however, rose to 6.55 million tonnes the first six months of 2019, up by 5.75% year-on-year...