Speaking at the press conference held by Turkish specialty steel producer Hasçelik, company chairman and CEO Adnan Naci Faydasıçok talked about Hasçelik’s new investments and its 2024 targets. Aiming to both increase the production of specialty steel and make a positive contribution to the country’s current account deficit, Hasçelik will establish two production plants, beginning an investment of approximately €200 million this year.
Hasçelik will commission its melting shop investment in Osmaneli, Bilecik in the last quarter of 2024. The melting shop, with an investment cost of €150 million, will have an annual capacity of 250 thousand tons. Italy-based Tenova will supply a Consteel® electric arc furnace with a new ladle furnace and twin vacuum degasser to Hasçelik’s plant in Osmaniye and the equipment will enhance production and quality, as SteelOrbis previously reported. Stating that the company will produce its own semi-finished products with this investment, the CEO said that, with the melting shop which will use scrap preheating technology for the first time in the country, Hasçelik will reduce energy consumption and increase energy efficiency, and will focus on green steel production and exports.
In addition, the company’s €35 million chrome coated facility investment in Kocaeli will provide 200 jobs in the first stage. The facility, which will have an annual capacity of 20 thousand tons and is expected to increase the production of value-added products, is planned to be officially commissioned in November this year.
Meanwhile, the company will invest €22 million in solar power plants with a 35 MW capacity at three facilities in order to reduce energy costs and increase the use of renewable energy. Hasçelik aims to only use clean energy in 2024.
Stating that the company is a net importer due to the imports of some raw materials used in production, Mr. Faydasıçok noted, “We face difficulties in accessing financing. To solve this issue, we are trying to become a net exporter with new investments.” Noting that the company will cover some of the investments with equity capital and aims to commission some of them through external financing, “Access to financing was quite easy in past years. Now it has become difficult. This is a serious problem, especially for companies that want to produce value-added products. Shorter payment terms are also a problem for producers,” the CEO commented.
Recalling that the biggest problem the Turkish steel industry is facing are the quotas and duties on export sales, Faydasıçok said, “We have started to invest abroad in order to overcome these problems. The quotas have made us investors abroad.” He added, “We have new investments in the UK, Germany and Mexico. We have acquired a new warehouse in the UK. We will take new steps to start producing abroad within a few years.”
Noting that the company has a total of five production plants located in Kocaeli and Konya, and a total of 12 steel service centers, three of which are abroad, he commented, “Our focus is to lead our industry as an innovative company with the goal of being a sustainable economy. When Turkey launches a spacecraft one day, we want to be a part of that process.”