8 April 2010 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, ANKARA
All Contractors Federation (TMF) head Tahir Tellioğlu has called on the government to extend assistance to the construction sector in the face of a recent hike in iron prices, which he says primarily stems from speculation rather than a rise in demand.
In a written statement released yesterday, Tellioğlu said that as a country producing three times as much iron as it needs, it is not normal for Turkey to see its iron and steel prices influenced by global price hikes this quickly. “We were waiting for prices to decline since iron consumption throughout the world declined due to the global financial crisis,” he said, attributing the recent price hike to speculation. As a sector driving the economy, the construction sector should be supported immediately, he said, calling for a series of measures to be taken, such as temporarily reducing value-added tax (KDV) to about 1 percent. An increase in China’s scrap iron imports recently pushed iron prices in Turkey from TL 800 to TL 1,300 per ton. While a ton of scrap iron was sold for around $250 to $300 in the global market in the first two months of the year, prices recently rose to between $450 and $465 due to an increase in demand from China.
