According to a statement released by the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (DCUD), in July this year Turkey's crude steel production rose by 9.7 percent year on year, exceeding 3.1 million mt. The country's crude steel production in July increased 6.8 percent compared to June this year.
According to DCUD, Turkey's crude steel production maintains its growing trend despite the contraction in global markets. In the first seven months of the current year, the country's output exceeded 21.06 million mt, up 9.3 percent year on year. In this period, steel production using EAFs amounted to 15.9 million mt, with an increase of 11.8 percent, while production via blast furnaces rose by 2.4 percent to 5.2 million mt, both compared to the same period of 2011.
The association noted that in the first seven months of 2012 Turkey's steel billet output moved up by 16.2 percent to 15.9 million mt, while its slab output fell by 7.6 percent to 5.2 million mt, both on year-on-year basis. The strong increase in billet production in contrast to the decline in slab production reflects the tendency of mills which are capable of producing both slab and billet to produce billet, due to the negative conditions in flat steel markets.