According to a statement released by the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD), in December last year crude steel production in Turkey decreased by 20 percent year on year to 2.7 million mt, while in 2022 the country’s crude steel production totaled 35.1 million mt, falling by 12.9 percent year on year. Turkey, which is among the countries with the highest declines in production in the world in 2022, fell to the eighth place after Germany in world steel production in the given year.
In 2022, Turkey’s finished steel consumption fell by 2.6 percent to 32.5 million mt, while in December alone finished steel consumption in Turkey decreased by 11.3 percent to 2.8 million mt, both year on year.
In the given month, Turkey’s steel exports decreased by 51.6 percent to 864,000 mt, while the value of these exports fell by 55.1 percent to $745 million, year on year. Turkey’s steel exports in the full year stood at 15.1 million mt, down by 23.5 percent year on year due to lower demand in the EU as well as safeguard measures in the EU and the US, and the negative effects of high energy costs on the country’s competitiveness, while the value of these exports came to $13.9 billion, down by 15.7 percent year on year.
In December, Turkey’s steel imports increased by 0.2 percent to 1.2 million mt, while the value of these imports moved down by 14.1 percent to $1,1 billion, both year on year. In 2022, steel imports decreased by 3.6 percent to 14.8 million mt, while the value of these imports increased by 8.5 percent to $15.6 billion, both year on year.
In the full year, Turkey’s steel export to import ratio decreased to 89.3 percent, from 114.9 percent recorded in the same period of the previous year.
According to the TCUD, the tendency of countries such as China, India and Russia, which are subject to the safeguard measures of the EU and the US, to sell to the Turkish market, led to the widening of Turkey’s foreign trade deficit throughout the year.
Meanwhile, the fact that the US and the EU are insisting on safeguard measures despite the WTO decision, and EUROFER’s efforts to prevent scrap exports and attempt to undermine free trade principles by demanding that scrap be added to the list of critical raw materials - as SteelOrbis previously reported - raised concerns that negative developments could deepen even further.
In addition, the revision of Turkey’s import duties on some flat products in January this year was seen as a positive development in terms of substituting flat product imports to a certain extent and increasing domestic capacity utilization rates.
Despite all the negativities in the domestic and foreign markets, 2023 is expected to be a better year compared to 2022, with the stabilization of the conditions relating to the war that adversely affected all markets and the reduction of energy prices to a reasonable level. In addition, the Turkish steel industry is expected to reach 40 million mt in steel production and 35 million mt in consumption again amid the better use of existing capacities and the commissioning of new capacities.