Koç Metalurji, one of the key square billet producers in Turkey’s Iskenderun region, has told SteelOrbis that they are planning to resume crude steel production at the beginning of December, a month earlier than their previous schedule of January 2020.
For the advancement of the restart date, the company cited their expectation of a better demand for billet and some market improvement as well in December. The company is also expecting a scrap cargo to be delivered by the time they will restart, SteelOrbis understands.
The company halted its 1.2 million mt crude steel operations in September amid unfavorable market conditions both in terms of demand for finished steel and production costs. Koç Metalurji was planning to resume production in January next year, as SteelOrbis previously reported.