According to a statement released by the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (TCUD), in May of the current year Turkish crude steel output maintained its year-on-year downtrend. In the month in question, Turkey's crude steel production fell by two percent year on year but was up by 5.4 percent compared to April, amounting to 3 million mt. In May, Turkey's crude steel production via blast furnaces amounted to 872,000 mt, rising 22.2 percent compared to May 2012 and up 1.9 percent month on month, while crude steel production using EAFs was 2.1 million mt, falling 9.3 percent compared to the same month of 2012 but up 6.9 percent over April this year.
In the first five months of the current year, Turkey's crude steel output amounted to 14.4 million mt, down 4.1 percent year on year. In the period in question, steel production using EAFs amounted to 10.1 million mt, with a decrease of 10.4 percent, while production via blast furnaces rose by 15.1 percent to 4.3 million mt, both compared to the same period of 2012.
In January-May this year, Turkey's steel billet output moved down by 3.3 percent to 10.8 million mt, while its slab output fell by 6.2 percent to 3.6 million mt, both on year-on-year basis.