During the panel discussion at the SteelOrbis Market Talks Meeting held in the Turkish capital Ankara on April 12, Namik Ekinci, chairman of the Turkish Steel Exporters' Association (CIB), underlined that, since there is not enough demand to absorb current steel capacity in Turkey, a large part of the production is exported. In the first three months of 2013, Turkey's steel export volume increased by 7.7 percent, while the export revenue decreased by 1.1 percent, both year on year, Ekinci stated, adding that long steel exports declined in the same period. According to Ekinci, in January-March this year hot rolled flat steel product exports amounted to 307,000 mt, up 5.6 percent, and rebar exports decreased to 2.21 million mt, falling by 8.9 percent, both compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Mr. Ekinci indicated that Iraq, ranking first place among the countries to which Turkey exported the most steel in the first three months, accounted for 11.7 percent of the total exports in terms of volume in the given period. Regarding regions, North America, East, Central and South Africa and West Africa saw declines in export volumes arriving from Turkey during the first quarter, because of political and economic crisis, according to Ekinci. The CIB chairman pointed out that steel exports to the US and UAE fell significantly and the markets are increasingly contracting, as importing countries have been setting up their own production facilities and reducing import demand.
Touching upon raw material imports, Namık Ekinci underlined the significance of using domestic resources as much as possible, adding that scrap generation is in parallel with development levels, while the iron ore mined in Turkey has a lower iron content. Ekinci underlined that, as the number one scrap importer in the world, Turkey has not been able to exert its power, based on the large volumes of its imports, on the countries it purchases scrap from. He added that the industry will work to gain the upper hand in purchasing scrap.