Arrivals of imported slab into Turkey have increased dramatically in the first quarter of the year, almost doubling in volume, as compared to Q1 2019, data published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) show.

January-March imports of the semi-finished product totalled 711,119 tonnes, 99% up on the corresponding period of 2019. Russia was the main supplier in Q1 with 298,870t, which was slightly down on Q1 2019, by -8.9%, as other suppliers entered the market in the absence of their regular buyers. 

Brazil, having not supplied any tonnage in Q1 2019, shipped 162,067t in Q1 2020. This happened because of its regular buyers in the US withdrawing from the market at the end of 2019. This was due to continuously decreasing demand from the oil and gas sector for tube products reducing demand for flat products, and in line with US mills' end-of-calendar-year buying patterns. 

Netherlands was also absent in the Turkish slab supply market in Q1 2019, but supplied 41,614t in Q1 2020, along with the UK, which went from zero in 2019 to 30,087t in Q1 2020.

Ukraine, traditionally a second-largest supplier of slab to Turkey, increased its shipments five-fold quarter-on-quarter in January-March. These rose to 178,480t, as availability increased on the back of a launch of new continuous slab caster at Ilyich steelworks in the end of 2019 (see Kallanish passim).

Turkish mills opted for higher slab share in the feedstock mix on the back of the ongoing strength of scrap prices. Finished products prices meanwhile fluctuated sufficiently to enable them to take an advantage of imported slab. The end of 2019 was marked with considerably lower slab demand from other traditional buyers, including Italy, during the ArcelorMittal Italia closure saga in the second half of the year. Demand from Southeast Asia, where re-rollers were opting for regional supply on the back of low demand for flat products, was also weak. (see Kallanish passim).