Turkish rebar producer Izmir Demir Çelik Sanayi A.Ş. (IDC) has announced its financial results for the first quarter of the current year, remarking that global apparent steel consumption in 2014 is expected to grow 3.1 percent, while apparent steel consumption growth is forecast at 2.1 percent in the EU and at three percent in the US. This increase in steel consumption is believed to reflect positively on the supply-demand balance in the second quarter and lead the way for a recovery in Turkish steel exports to the EU, resulting in a significant upward movement in prices.
In the first quarter, IDC registered a net loss of TRY 7.24 million ($3.44 million), compared to a net loss of TRY 11.04 million in the same quarter of 2013. The company's sales revenues increased by 30.5 percent year on year to TRY 499.5 million ($237.5 million). In the given quarter, IDC recorded an operating profit of TRY 250,561 ($119,052), compared to an operating loss of TRY 9.03 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
IDC said that in the first quarter its steel billet output decreased by 19 percent to 302,707 mt, while its rebar production amounted to 197,463 mt, falling 22 percent, both year on year. Besides, 99,812 mt of rebar was also produced by the company's contractual partners in the given period. During the same period, the company produced 57,727 mt of steel sections at its medium section mill.
According to IDC, in the first quarter of the current year the downward trend in prices caused European and MENA region buyers to postpone purchases or lower purchasing volumes in order to reduce risks. However, the weakening of the US dollar against the euro makes it more attractive to export to the EU from Turkey, while helping Turkish producers to gain the upper hand in competition with European producers.