According to a statement released by the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD), in October this year, crude steel production in Turkey increased by eight percent year on year to 3.5 million mt, while in the January-October period this year Turkey’s crude steel production totaled 33.3 million mt, rising by 14.2 percent year on year.
In the January-October period, Turkey’s finished steel consumption rose by 13.2 percent to 27.6 million mt, while in October alone finished steel consumption in Turkey decreased by 0.6 percent to 2.5 million mt, both year on year.
In October, Turkey’s steel exports increased by 23.0 percent to 1.9 million mt, while the value of these exports rose by 124.0 percent to $1.8 billion, year on year. Turkey’s steel exports in the January-October period stood at 16.6 million mt, up by 24.6 percent year on year, while the value of these exports came to $13.4 billion, up by 98.5 percent year on year.
In October, Turkey’s steel imports increased by 7.9 percent to 1.04 million mt, while the value of these imports moved up by 90.5 percent to $1.2 billion, both year on year. In the first 10 months of the current year, steel imports increased by 24.8 percent to 12.9 million mt, while the value of these imports increased by 88.6 percent to $11.7 billion, both year on year.
In the first 10 months of the year, Turkey’s steel export to import ratio increased to 115.0 percent, from 109.0 percent recorded in the same period last year.
According to the association, considering that the increasing trend in the country’s steel production may continue in the next two months, the increase in Turkey’s production is expected to be more than three times the increase in world steel production at the end of the year. Following the agreement between the US and the EU regarding the Section 232 duties, the protective measures applied in the world steel trade have started to decrease. The TCUD stated that, taking into account that Turkey’s general foreign trade with the US and EU countries is in a balanced structure, the US should replace Section 232 with tariff-rate quotas for Turkey as well and the EU should ease the existing quota regime.