Crude steel production in Turkey increased by 19.4 percent year on year in October this year to 3.2 million mt, according to a statement released by the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD). In the January-October period this year, Turkey’s crude steel production totaled 29.1 million mt, rising by 4.2 percent year on year.
In the January-October period, Turkey’s finished steel consumption rose by 16.2 percent to 24.4 million mt, while in October alone finished steel consumption in Turkey increased by 27.6 percent to 2.5 million mt, both year on year.
In October, Turkey’s steel exports decreased by 1.6 percent to 1.5 million mt, while the value of these exports decreased by 0.2 percent to $791 million, year on year. Exports in the January-October period stood at 13.3 million mt, down by 10.5 percent year on year, while the value of exports during this period was $6.8 billion, down by 18 percent year on year.
In October, Turkey’s steel imports increased by 2.2 percent to 963,000 mt, while the value of these imports moved down by 3.1 percent to $628 million, both year on year. In the first 10 months of the current year, steel imports increased by 8.2 percent to 10.4 million mt, while the value of these imports decreased by 4.2 percent to $6.2 billion, both year on year.
According to the association, despite the contractionary effect of the pandemic period, in the first 10 months of the current year Turkey’s steel production increased by 4.2 percent, while its steel consumption grew by 16 percent. These gains increased the optimistic expectations for the last months of the year. As approximately 50 percent of the country’s steel consumption is met by imports, capacity utilization rates have not recorded a sufficient increase. The EU Commission has continued to restrict steel exports from Turkey. Following the quota restriction which is tightened every six months, antidumping and countervailing duty measures tightened every six months, at EUROFER’s request the EU Commission has decided to register Turkey’s imports in order to impose retroactive duties. The TCUD stated that the EU Commission continues to violate the provisions of the free trade agreement and to block Turkey’s steel exports. It went on to say that the Turkish steel industry expects the EU’s trade-blocking stance to be terminated as soon as possible and for mutual efforts to be increased to return to fair trade in accordance with agreements.