At the first session of Eurometal Steel Day & YISAD Flat Steel Conference, held at Istanbul Marriott Hotel Asia on Tuesday, March 5, in cooperation with SteelOrbis, Ayhan Uçar, procurement manager of Turkish steel producer Tatçelik, commented about the current situation in the steel industry and shared his expectations.
Stating that his company has an annual production capacity of 1.5 million mt at its three production plants in Ereğli, Mr. Uçar stated that the company’s galvanized steel capacity will increase with the commissioning of a new line with an annual 650,000 mt capacity in June this year, in addition to the existing 800,000 mt of galvanized steel capacity. The new line will enable Tatçelik to coat steel up to 4 mm thick and produce galvanized steel with widths over 1,600 mm. Adding that Tatçelik exports steel to more than 70 countries, he said that the company’s export percentage will increase to 60-70 percent this year, compared to 40-50 percent last year. In addition, as the company aims to meet its energy needs with its own electricity production, Uçar said that Tatçelik has invested over €60 million in solar and wind power plants.
He pointed out that Turkey’s flat steel production and consumption in 2023 totaled 13.68 million mt and 19.68 million mt, respectively, while indicating that 48.2 percent of flat steel consumption was met by imports despite duties and the production capacities in Turkey. The country’s exports decreased especially for hot rolled coil and cold rolled coil, he noted.
Meanwhile, anticipating that the population increase in India, where steel consumption was lower previously, will result in a hike in steel consumption, Uçar said he expects India to become the main steel supplier for Europe, with the higher steel production in the country.
Stating that energy, iron ore and coal prices will decline with the approaching summer season, the Tatçelik representative said that steel demand, which will move sideways in the next two to three months, will increase from the middle of the third quarter this year with the start of new and postponed projects. Saying that the scrap will be more valuable in the medium-to-long term amid the green transition, Uçar noted that Turkey, which produces steel via electric arc furnaces, may face scrap supply issues. In addition, regarding Turkey’s ongoing antidumping investigation into HRC from four countries, Uçar commented that the potential dumping margins could widen the gap between local and global prices, pointing out that the gap between the prices increased to $100/mt with the hike in duties.