Turkish earthquake had little impact on the stainless steel market

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey on February 6 caused significant damage to many buildings and many casualties.

Regarding the impact on the stainless steel market, market participants said that Turkey is one of China's sources of chrome ore imports, but China imports fewer chrome resources from Turkey, so the impact of the earthquake on China's chrome supply is limited.

According to statistics, China's chrome ore imports from Turkey amounted to 949,000 tons, which accounted for 6.3% of total imports in 2022.

However, the Port of Mersin, the main port for the shipment of chrome ore in Turkey, is currently temporarily out of operation, this is expected to affect the export of chrome resources.

In addition, Turkey's steel production is low compared to other countries, and large stainless steel Turkish Mills is far from the epicenter, so the earthquake has had very little effect on the production and processing of local steel company.

To summarize, the earthquake that hit Turkey may affect local transportation and restrict imports and exports, but the overall impact on stainless steel prices remains minimal.