Veysel Yayan, secretary general of the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD), has stated that protectionist measures should be adopted to protect Turkish steel producers, especially in the face of high energy prices. Speaking to Turkish newspaper EKONOMİ, Mr. Yayan said that the Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia, and Iran will be rivals to Turkish steel producers with their investments and advantages in terms of energy prices. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has lately purchased a 100 percent shareholding in Saudi Iron & Steel Co., also known as Hadeed, Saudi Arabia’s largest steel manufacturer, as SteelOrbis previously reported.
Stating that most of the given investments are export-oriented, the TCUD secretary general pointed out that the competitiveness of the Turkish steel industry is already low due to Turkey’s high energy prices.
In addition, according to the latest statement of the TCUD, steel imports from China, the country from which Turkey imports the most after Russia, increased by 84 percent in the first seven months this year. The association emphasized that preventing China from sending the surplus caused by the contraction of its construction sector to Turkey is important in order to close the current trade foreign deficit of the Turkish steel industry.
