According to a statement released by the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (DCUD), in September this year Turkey's crude steel production rose by 1.9 percent year on year and 0.3 percent month on month, reaching 3.05 million mt. In September, steel production using electric arc furnaces (EAFs) increased by 4.6 percent, while production via blast furnaces (BFs) fell by 5.4 percent, both compared to September 2011.
On the other hand, in the first nine months of 2011 Turkey's crude steel output amounted to 27.15 million mt, increasing by 8.4 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
In September this year, Turkey's steel billet output moved up by 9.4 percent to 2.3 million mt, and its slab output climbed up by 15.7 percent to 761,000 mt, both on year-on-year basis.
2011 |
Jan-Sep 2011 |
Jan-Sep 2012 |
Year-on year change (%) |
|
Billet |
24,400 |
17,829 |
20,436 |
14.6 |
Slab |
9,707 |
7,229 |
6,717 |
-7.1 |
Total |
34,107 |
25,058 |
27,153 |
8.4 |
EAF |
25,275 |
18,489 |
20,363 |
10.1 |
BOF |
8,832 |
6,569 |
6,790 |
3.4 |
Tonnage figures are x 1,000 mt.
The association noted that the year-on-year decrease in slab production was due to the mills which are capable of producing both slab and billet focusing on producing billet in line with the falling prices in the flat steel market. Meanwhile, in the January-August period of this year, Turkey's flat steel imports reached 4.32 million mt, rising 0.8 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.