According to a statement released by the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (TCUD), narrower spreads between raw material and finished steel prices, increasing volumes of cheap imports in Turkey, high input costs weakening the competitiveness of the Turkish steel industry and strong competition in the export markets all contributed to the significant fall in Turkey's crude steel output.
In September, Turkey's crude steel production decreased by 14.1 percent year on year to 2.49 million metric tons and was down 2.9 percent compared to the previous month. In September, Turkey's crude steel output by electric arc furnaces declined by 23.4 percent year on year to 1.57 million metric tons, while crude steel production by integrated plants increased by 8.2 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in the first nine months of the current year Turkey's crude steel production decreased by 7.8 percent year on year to 23.78 million metric tons. In the given period, Turkey's crude steel output by electric arc furnaces declined by 14.8 percent to 15.55 million metric tons, while production by integrated plants increased by 8.3 percent to 8.23 million metric tons, both year on year.
In the January-September period, Turkey's billet output decreased by 6.6 percent to 17.56 million metric tons, while its slab output declined by 11.2 percent to 6.22 million metric tons, both on year-on-year basis.