The 6th SteelOrbis Turkish Steel Market Conference, held in Istanbul on November 18 with the sponsorship of Turkish integrated steelmaker Erdemir, began with a quick look by the SteelOrbis team at market developments since the last conference took place.
After this general overview, Dr. Veysel Yayan, general secretary of the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association, made a presentation in which he cast his eye over trends in steel production across the world and, in particular, assessed the current situation of Turkish steel producers.
Expressing his satisfaction at the strong participation at the conference, Dr. Yayan stated that world steel production in 2011 was expected to increase by five percent. However, the ongoing instability in the world economy, particularly in Europe, may raise the need for revision of this prediction, he warned.
On the Turkish steel industry, Dr. Yayan said that Turkey is a dynamic economy with a rapidly growing steel industry, ranking first among the fastest growing steel industries in the world in 2011, thanks to recent investments in flat steel, quality steel, structural steel and stainless steel. These investments will give the Turkish steel industry a better production and trade structure and will help the Turkish steel industry to serve the domestic and export markets better, he stated. Accordingly, Turkey's total finished steel production this year is foreseen to reach 31.5 million mt from 26.3 million mt last year, while its flat steel production is predicted to hit 10 million mt this year, up from 7.3 million mt last year and 4.8 million mt in 2009. Besides, with its crude steel production hitting over three million mt in both September and October, Turkey now ranks as the seventh largest steel producing country in the world. Yayan also remarked that Turkey may become Europe's largest steel producer by 2023, replacing Germany.
Dr. Yayan also underlined the growth in Turkey's finished steel consumption, rising from 23.6 million mt in 2010 to an anticipated 26.5 million mt this year. In 2012, Turkey's total finished steel consumption is foreseen to reach 30 million mt, Dr. Yayan added. As for finished steel consumption per capita, Yayan said that finished steel consumption per capita in Turkey this year is expected to grow by 12 percent year on year to 375-380 kg, which is above the average finished steel consumption in the European Union and about 70 percent higher than the world average.
Despite the growth recorded both in Turkey's steel production and consumption, Dr. Yayan said that in 2011 capacity usage in Turkey is foreseen to remain at 78 percent and this rate is not expected to increase in the near term, due to the contraction in Turkey's export markets. Nevertheless, the Turkish steel industry's contribution to Turkey's external trade surplus will become stronger in the coming period, as Turkey's steel exports already exceed its steel imports, 13.8 million mt against 8.2 million mt in the first nine months of this year.