Speaking on October 6 at the SteelOrbis 2015 Fall Conference & 73rd IREPAS Meeting in Rome, the chairman of the steel producers committee, Kim Marti, who is the international sales director of Spanish steel producer Celsa and also chairman of IREPAS, said that there have been two significant changes in the market: Turkey has become a net importer of billets from being a net exporter and billet exports from China have increased significantly. He added that when sanctions are fully lifted Iran will probably enter the billet market, but it is not clear when.
Mr. Marti stated that the producers committee believes that the CIS and China will remain major billet exporters, though their export volumes will not indicate significant changes. Commenting on rebar demand, he said that global demand is generally stable, with markets showing differences depending on the region.
According to the producers committee chairman, long products demand in Brazil has been negatively affected by the slowing down of the economy, also pulling down demand in South America, while in North America rebar demand stands at reasonable levels. Mr. Marti stated that the EU is still benefiting from lower oil prices, while demand from the construction industry in the region is recovering at the same time. Meanwhile, southern Europe is recovering, but production volumes are still low.
The committee chairman said that Turkey is the world’s second biggest rebar exporter after China, adding, however, that the export markets are shrinking in the Middle East because of political turmoil. On the other hand, the CIS markets are expected to stabilize in 2016 and exports will continue.