During the "New Horizons in Global Steel Markets" 11th Annual Conference organized by SteelOrbis in Istanbul on November 17, Dr. Veysel Yayan, general secretary of the Turkish Steel Producers Association, said that over the last three years there has been a pause in the expansion of global steel production capacity. Amid the widened gap between steel production and consumption, the uptrend of production capacity in the Turkish steel sector has been nearly at a halt beginning from 2012 due to the global overcapacity problem. According to Dr. Yayan, production capacity in the Turkish steel sector increased by 15 percent in the 2010-2012 period and has remained at 49-50 million mt since then. Also, since 2012 steel consumption in Turkey increased, while output has moved downwards. Meanwhile, in 2016 crude steel production in Turkey is expected to increase to 32.8 million mt as compared to 31.5 million mt of 2015, he said.
Dr. Yayan stated that the overcapacity problem exists not only in China, but also in Turkey’s neighboring countries such as Ukraine and Russia, where overcapacity levels are currently at 39 million mt and 47 million mt respectively. Iran also has a serious overcapacity problem in its steel industry, he added.
Furthermore, he continued, opposing trends have been observed in crude steel production and consumption in Turkey; while consumption is on the rise, output started to decline as of 2012, though recovering slightly this year. However, Turkey’s crude steel production is far from reaching 2012 levels for now.
Regarding Turkey’s steel trade, Dr. Yayan said that the share of imported products in Turkey’s steel consumption has increased to 50 percent from 40 percent and this situation is not acceptable for a country which has sufficient production capacity to meet customers’ needs in its domestic market. “Turkey has increased to fifth rank from ninth among steel importer countries as imported steel has become more attractive for Turkish buyers, and, from being a net steel exporter, Turkey has entered the league of net importers in 14th position. Turkey’s steel exports have decreased both on value and volume basis, while imports have increased both in value and volume. Meanwhile, for 2016 Turkey’s steel export volume is expected to decline to 90 percent of its steel import volume, while the country’s steel imports are expected to exceed its exports in value by $11 million in the given year.
Dr. Yayan also stated that, while there are many antidumping investigations against Turkish producers, protection measures against imports in Turkey are very few and insufficient.