Turkey’s Mescier Demir Celik is proceeding with its project to move into the upstream segment. The company plans to start the hot trials at its electric arc furnace with a 1 million mt per year capacity in January 2020, SteelOrbis has learned from a company representative. Once the investment is successfully finished, Mescier will become the second square billet manufacturer in the Karabuk region after Kardemir. The producer will start with 150 mm and 160 mm square billet, with plans to expand its portfolio to 180-200 mm billet. Currently, billet buyers in the region source the product from import side as well, mainly from CIS countries.
Currently, the company’s total merchant bar production capacity is 700,000 mt at four rolling lines, SteelOrbis understands. One of the lines is scheduled for some planned modernization, which, however, will not increase the capacity in the near future. Mescier exports up to 75-80 percent of its merchant bars, with around 20-25 percent being consumed locally.