At the 4th SteelOrbis Turkish Steel Market Conference held in Istanbul on November 13, Selçuk Özdil, vice president of the Turkish Structural Steel Association, assessed the development of Turkey's structural steel industry and explained the work of his association.
Stating that usage of structural steel in Turkey commenced ten years ago, Mr. Özdil said that before the 1999 earthquake demand for structural steel and production of these products did not exist in the country. In this context, the association began its work, focusing on publicizing the usage of structural steel and the resulting advantages, Mr. Özdil said. He added that the association's efforts had succeeded, resulting in significant growth in the consumption and production of the products in question. Mr. Özdil also pointed out that a complete range of sections are currently being produced in Turkey.
Mr. Özdil went on to state that Turkey is now a net exporter of structural steel, and, thanks to the development of this sector, structural steel is now a major export product for Turkey, just like rebar. However, Mr. Özdil qualified this success by remarking that import rates are relatively high for medium, heavy and special sections, and that imports accounts for 40 percent of the market for these types of products.
Since structural steel is widely used in construction projects, Mr. Özdil said, the structural steel sector began to feel the effects of the global economic crisis approximately six months later that the other sectors of the steel industry. Meanwhile, he added, this situation could also result in a delay of the recovery of the structural steel sector. Meanwhile, he stated, if the contraction in the structural steel industry totals 30 percent at the end of this year, this can be evaluated as a success.
Finally, Mr. Özdil pointed out that the potential of this industry is improving, as sustainable construction activity and investments for renewable energy increase, as production of stronger and lighter products is realized with innovations in design, and as more economic production is achieved with the increase in capacities.