According to a statement released by the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (DCUD), in October this year Turkey's crude steel production fell by 6.9 percent year on year and by 5.9 percent compared to September, to 2.87 million mt, due to the six-day holiday in October this year.
According to the DCUD, Turkey's crude steel production maintains its growing trend despite the contraction in global markets. In the first 10 months of the current year, the country's output exceeded 30 million mt, up 6.7 percent year on year. In this period, steel production using EAFs amounted to 22.4 million mt, with an increase of 7.6 percent, while production via blast furnaces rose by 4.2 percent to 7.6 million mt, both compared to the same period of 2011.
The association noted that in the first 10 months of 2012 Turkey's steel billet output moved up by 13.4 percent to 22.6 million mt, while its slab output fell by 9.5 percent to 7.4 million mt, both on year-on-year basis. The decline in slab production and the increase in billet production was due to the global contraction in flat steel markets combined with import pressure, according to the DCUD announcement.