Speaking at the SteelOrbis Market Talks event held at the Wellborn Luxury Hotel in Kocaeli, northwestern Turkey, Mr. Mehmet Çakmur from Turkish steel trading company M Steel said that the largest imbalance between production and consumption in the Turkish flat steel market is being observed in galvanized products. He added that the biggest problem is the lack of data regarding galvanized product output and consumption, suggesting that the fastest way to recover from the current imbalance is to focus on exports.
Mr. Çakmur pointed out that the market was not expected to contract this much while adding new capacities, while he went on to stress that some companies export almost 80 percent of their production, which is not sustainable. “We should support galvanized steel production through standardization. We should work with the government on this one. We have to find sustainable ways to export. Only trading is not enough. We should determine our target markets and expand in those markets organically,” said the M Steel official.
Commenting on protectionist measures, Mr. Çakmur said that these measures have been a part of the industry for a long time but they remained limited in the past, whereas recently they have targeted the market as a whole. He stated that EU will become more aggressive to protect its own domestic market. He suggested that product mix should be improved to be able to adopt new standards in the market, adding that the biggest problem Turkey is facing regarding the long steel segment is that it is still trying to sell rebar and wire rod, while the focus should be shifted towards more value-added products.
Stating that consolidation in the steel industry might the biggest chance this period of crisis could bring along, Mr. Çakmur said that overcoming these difficult times can only be possible if steel producers and buyers work together. He stressed that steel producers should cooperate in order to export to different markets, while affirming that Turkey is the only steel producing country which is flexible enough to adapt itself to changes.