According to the Turkish Steel Producers Association (TCUD), Turkey ranked seventh globally and the first in Europe in steel production during the first eight months of 2025. Veysel Yayan, secretary general of TCUD, emphasized that protectionist measures are putting pressure on Turkey’s steel industry and that support for domestic production should be strengthened.
“Turkish steel industry exports to a wide geography”
Highlighting that the Turkish steel industry exports to a wide geography extending from Europe to America, and from the Middle East to Africa, Mr. Yayan stated that Turkey exports steel to more than 180 countries and holds a unique position in the global supply chain. However, he noted that China’s share of more than 50 percent in global steel production exposes the industries in all countries, including Turkey, to global market fluctuations.
Protectionist measures make exports difficult
The TCUD secretary general said that the US duties of up to 50 percent and the EU’s plan to reduce steel import quotas by 47 percent could effectively close off a large part of the global steel market to external suppliers. He noted that this situation makes it inevitable that major producers, especially from China and other Far Eastern countries, will target the Turkish market.
According to TCUD, the new measures planned by the European Commission could:
• make free trade practically impossible,
• undermine the principle of reciprocity in the ECSC Free Trade Agreement,
• narrow Turkey’s export channels to the EU.
The association warned that this situation could lead to losses in sales to the EU - Turkey’s largest market - and to lower capacity utilization rates.
TCUD’s policy recommendations
TCUD stated that, instead of existing protectionist approaches, policies should be developed to support fair trade. The association called on the EU to ensure Turkey, which has a Customs Union and FTAs with the EU, is not treated the same as third countries, to provide flexibility in quota allocations based on past export performance, to adjust rules on origin declarations so as not to restrict trade in practice, and to structure the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in line with free trade principles.
Green transition and value-added production investments
Mr. Yayan pointed out that, in the long term, protectionist measures risk reducing the appetite for investments in the sector. Despite all challenges, Turkey’s steel industry maintains its competitiveness by focusing on value-added production and green transition investments. He said the industry has accelerated production of specialty steels for the automotive, defense, energy and shipbuilding industries. These investments enhance not only Turkey’s production volume but also its product diversity and international competitiveness, added.
Noting that the Turkish steel industry currently operates at a 63 percent capacity utilization rate, while imported inputs account for 48 percent of total consumption, Yayan emphasized that these ratios should be reduced to the European average of 20 percent by strengthening incentives supporting domestic production, balancing energy costs and providing financial facilities for environmental investments.
