At the SteelOrbis Spring 2023 Conference & 88th IREPAS Meeting held in Barcelona on May 7-9, Dr. Veysel Yayan, secretary general of the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD), started his presentation by commenting on the Turkish economy. He said that the Turkish economy showed stable growth during the last 10 years and that the manufacturing sector supported economic activities, while during the last five years the Turkish steel industry fluctuated depending on the political situation and some internal conditions. During the pandemic, the Turkish steel industry grew by 6.1 percent in 2020 and by 12.7 percent in 2021, while in 2022 however, contradicting expectations, Turkish steel production declined by 12.9 percent due to the invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions which negatively affected energy prices. Dr. Yayan indicated that this created an uncompetitive environment for Turkish steel exports, adding that it was not easy even in the local market to compete with imported material.
According to the TCUD figures, Turkish crude steel production during the first three months of the current year amounted to 7.4 million mt, down from 9.4 million mt during the same period last year. Looking at the region which was hit by two devastating earthquakes on February 6, crude steel production in January saw a decline of 35.4 percent, crude steel production contracted by 76.2 percent in February and decreased by 52.1 percent in March. Dr. Yayan said that, with all the mills in the region returning to production, steel production in the region will increase sharply in April and after May there will be no negative effects remaining from the earthquake on steel production.
During the first three months of 2023, Turkey’s billet production amounted to 4.97 million mt, down 19.4 percent year on year, while Turkish long steel production in the same period came to 5.6 million mt, compared to 6.2 million mt in the first three months of 2022. In the first three months this year, rebar production was 2.6 million mt, down 7.14 percent year on year, while wire rod production fell by 20 percent to 600,000 mt. Meanwhile, in the earthquake-hit region, billet production saw a 42.2 percent year on year decrease in the given period to 898,213 mt, while rebar production (excluding re-rollers) fell by 39.7 percent year on year to 527,572 mt, Veysel Yayan stated citing the TCUD figures.
Looking at consumption figures, the TCUD official noted that Turkish long steel consumption increased from 3.7 million mt to 4.6 million mt during the January-March period this year. The country’s long steel exports decreased to 1.45 million mt, down from 2.81 million mt in the same period of the previous year, while long steel imports amounted to 464,000 mt, up from 359,000 mt in the first quarter of 2022. As regards rebar, Turkey exported 718,000 mt in September 2021, 669,000 mt in March 2022, while the figure declined to 202,000 mt in March this year, which is a disturbing sign for the domestic steel industry, Dr. Yayan said. He added that Turkey’s wire rod exports have also been following the same pattern.
The rebuilding requirements due to the earthquakes create an opportunity in terms of steel consumption, Yayan indicated. Along with the housing investments in the south, he said that there should also be renovations in the north, in preparation for the long-anticipated earthquake in the Marmara Sea region, which would also create some long steel demand. The TCUD official also voiced his worries regarding the financing of these rebuilding projects as the political parties competing in the coming elections are making promises “to give more and more to the people” and this may create difficulties in terms of financial resources.