Turkish Steel Plants Halt Exports To Saudi Arabia - Report

BEIRUT (Zawya Dow Jones)--Turkish steel plants have notified Saudi importers that they will halt construction steel exports to Saudi Arabia in the coming period due to unstable prices, especially the recent hike in scrap prices in global markets, Jeddah-based Okaz daily reports Wednesday.

Turkish steel factories rely heavily on the use of scrap for steel manufacturing and the global prices of scrap have increased to $300 a ton in the last days from $200 a ton, the paper reports.

The steel plants have halted deals for 40,000 tons of construction steel at last week's price of $450 a ton and they are asking now for $575 for one ton, the paper reports citing Ali Al Dayekh, a Saudi steel importer.

The Turkish steel industry has seen a decline in output during the last months due to the shortage of scrap in international markets, Dayekh said according to the paper.

Turkish steel plants have an annual production capacity of 12 million tons while their current annual output is four million ton which is equal to Turkey's domestic steel consumption, he added.

Newspaper Web site: www.okaz.com.sa/okaz

-By Beirut Bureau, Zawya Dow Jones; +961-1-985 757; BeirutZDJ@zawya.com

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