According to a statement released by the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (TCUD), in the first four months of the current year Turkey's crude steel output amounted to 11.4 million mt, down 4.6 percent year on year. The TCUD noted that Turkey's steel production has been affected negatively since the fourth quarter of 2012 by the reduction in the price margin between raw materials and end products amid the global market recession. However, a gradual slowdown in the decline in Turkish crude steel production has been observed, with domestic crude steel output declining by 8.8 percent in January this year, and falling by 5.9 percent in the first quarter, both compared to the corresponding periods of the previous year.
In the first four months of the year, steel production using EAFs amounted to 8 million mt, with a decrease of 10.7 percent, while production via blast furnaces rose by 13.4 percent to 3.4 million mt, both compared to the same period of 2012.
In the period in question, Turkey's steel billet output moved down by four percent to 8.5 million mt, while its slab output fell by 6.3 percent to 2.9 million mt, both on year-on-year basis.
The TCUD said that in April Turkish crude steel output maintained the year-on-year downtrend but with a slowing decrease rate. In April this year, Turkey's crude steel production fell by 3.8 percent compared to March and was down by 0.7 percent year on year, amounting to 2.86 million mt. In April, Turkey's crude steel production via blast furnaces amounted to 856,000 mt, down 3.6 percent, while crude steel production using EAFs was 2 million mt, falling 4.8 percent, both compared to March this year.