According to the information provided by the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association, in January this year Turkey's slab output for flat steel production increased by 54.9 percent year on year, totaling 691,000 metric tons. Flat steel production constituted 25.21 percent of total domestic steel output in the given period, compared to 21.71 percent in the corresponding month of 2010.
Meanwhile, in January this year, Turkey's steel billet output for long steel production improved by 27.5 percent year on year, amounting to 2.05 million metric tons. Long steel production accounted for 74.79 percent of the country's total steel production during the month in question, compared to 78.29 percent in the corresponding month of 2010.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in the first month of this year, Turkey produced 2.74 million metric tons of steel, up 33.4 percent year on year. Production by electric arc furnace plants increased by 56.6 percent, while steel production using blast furnaces declined by 7.5 percent, both compared to January 2010. In January this year, 75 percent of production came from mini-mills, with the remaining 25 percent coming from integrated plants.
On the other hand, the Central Bank of Turkey has said that in January this year the capacity utilization rate in the Turkish basic metal industry was at 78.1 percent. However, in February this rate has regressed by three percentage points to 75.1 percent.