During the "New Horizons in Global Steel Markets" 12th Annual Conference organized by SteelOrbis in Istanbul on November 2, Murat Eryılmaz, general manager of SteelOrbis, shared the latest data on the global steel industry. Stating that the world steel industry has been experiencing an increase in output in 2017, Mr. Eryılmaz said that world crude steel production is expected to total 1.86 billion mt this year, compared to about 1.6 billion mt in previous years.
Looking at China's position in global steel production and consumption, according to Mr. Eryilmaz it is expected that China's crude steel production will be close to 850 million mt this year and that its share in world crude steel production will increase to over 50 percent. The SteelOrbis general manager underlined that there has been a positive trend in China's steel consumption since the last quarter of 2016 and that China's share in global steel consumption is expected to increase to 47 percent. He emphasized that the excess steel supply from China, which is at the forefront of issues that have been negatively affecting the sector, has declined and is expected to be reduced further by the end of the year. Finished steel exports from China have declined, he added.
According to Mr. Eryılmaz, the resulting relief in the global market has also been felt in Turkey, where crude steel production has increased this year. As long as unexpected problems do not arise before the end of the year, Turkey’s crude steel production for the current year is expected to exceed the all-time annual high of 36 million metric tons of Turkish crude steel production recorded in 2012. Having been a net importer of finished steel in 2015 and 2016, it is expected that Turkey's steel imports will reach 15.5 million mt in the current year, with its exports expected to total 19 million mt, while the share of imports in domestic steel consumption is expected to be 44.5 percent this year. Turkey's steel exports are expected to exceed its imports by 21 percent in 2017.