At the 5th SteelOrbis Turkish Steel Market Conference held in Istanbul on November 26, Kerim Steel Tuzla regional director Göktuğ Yılgenci gave a presentation entitled ‘The Changing Role of Steel Service Centers', indicating the radical changes which have taken place in steel supply distribution in Turkey. Mr. Yilgenci said that, as a result of the huge growth in flat product output capacity, the country will be a net exporter of galvanized steel products in 2011 and of hot rolled products in 2010. He remarked that the south of Turkey has become the center of flat steel production in the country.
According to Mr. Yilgenci, there were fewer producers in the early 2000s compared to 2010, demand in the early 2000s exceeded supply, stocks were increasing in value under the influence of inflation, and distribution was more important than sales. In 2010, however, supply exceeds demand, and, thanks to the new economy, corporations are greatly focused on the use of capital, and customers' needs have to be understood better through the mutual efforts of service centers and producers. Mr. Yilgenci said that steel service centers were in a better position than in the past. Besides, by 2011, it is expected that the steel service centers which are cooperating with producers and have increased access to international capital, will increase in numbers.
Yilgenci also indicated that fluctuating price movements have changed the attitude of end-users towards inventory management, entailing three responsibilities for steel service centers: 1- the need to reorganize purchasing and planning processes in the supply chain, 2- the need to increase communication with customers to aid the development of planning processes, 3- categorization of demand. Additionally, in order to add value, steel service centers should take responsibility for certain processes in producer and end-user activities. Yilgenci concluded his presentation by indicating that Kerim Steel has plants in Istanbul, Bursa and Manisa with an overall capacity of 500,000 metric tons.