On Tuesday, March 24, the Eurometal Steel Day & YİSAD Flat Steel Conference, organized in collaboration with SteelOrbis at the Istanbul Marriott Hotel Asia, kicked off with nearly 400 participants. Now in its 11th year, the event - which has gained an international profile in recent years with Eurometal’s inclusion - was sponsored by Tatmetal, with other sponsors including Ağır Haddecilik, Yatırım Finansman, Gökmetal and Yametaş.
Delivering the opening remarks, Tayfun İşeri, chairman of Turkey's Association of Flat Steel Importers and Manufacturers (YISAD), expressed his satisfaction with the strong interest in the conference despite the challenging global conditions, noting that it had created a productive platform for speakers to share their knowledge and experience.
Touching on global developments, Mr. İşeri noted that, in recent years, the flat steel sector has faced numerous challenges, including the Russia-Ukraine war, the earthquakes in Turkey, and developments in Gaza and the Middle East. Emphasizing that trade costs have risen and protectionist tendencies have strengthened during this period, he said that expectations regarding the fight against inflation and interest rate cuts also appear to have been postponed.
Noting that there are serious challenges regarding demand in the flat steel sector, the YİSAD chairman stated that many companies have begun to slow down their planned investments. Stating that finding a short-term solution to the current problems is difficult, İşeri added that such platforms as the Eurometal-YİSAD conference hold great importance in bringing sectoral players together on common ground.