Turkish steel growth depends on scrap imports

According to the Secretary General of the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers Association Dr. Veysel Yayan, Turkish steel sector growth, planned at the level of 10-15 percent a year, will mainly depend on the country's scrap imports. Dr. Yayan added that in the course of the last two years, the primary cost of steel production in Turkey had doubled due to increasing scrap prices. According to the association's data, so far in 2006 Turkey imported 14 million metric tons of scrap, including 3.9 million metric tons from Russia and 3.5 million metric tons from Europe. These figures indicate that the Turkish steel producers are decreasing their scrap imports from Russia while, at the same time, increasing scrap deliveries from Europe. According to the same data, in 2006, steel production in Turkey increased by 79 percent - including an 89 percent increase in long products output - as compared to 2001.