At the 5th YISAD Flat Steel Conference & SteelOrbis Market Talks held in Istanbul on May 11, Tuncay Sergen, former chairman and board member of Turkey's Association of Flat Steel Importers and Manufacturers (YISAD), was the moderator of the session which discussed structural problems and investments in the flat steel industry in Turkey. Mehmet Cakmur, sales and marketing director of Turkish steelmaker MMK Metalurji, Mehmet Zeren, general secretary of the Turkish Steel Pipe Manufacturers Association (CEBID), and Asuman Gursoy, general coordinator of Turkish steelmaker and service center Tat Metal, shared their views about the current situation in the Turkish flat steel market with attendees at the session.
Asuman Gursoy said that Turkey continues to make new investments although there is an overcapacity in Turkey, because market conditions make new investments inevitable. If the range of products and production of value-added products are not increased, it will be impossible to be competitive, she said. According to Gursoy, if investment in hot flat steel is not increased, the need for imports will rise at the end of 2018.
Mehmet Cakmur said MMK Metalurji’s electric arc furnace and hot strip facility, which were closed in 2012, should be restarted and this decision will be made in June or July this year. In addition, because the Turkish flat steel industry does not have a cooperative culture and strategy, the sector will have to resort to consolidation after a while, he added. According to Mr. Cakmur, all the producers in the Turkish flat steel sector should become involved in export activity in the next five years as the current market conditions will compel even the smallest producers to export. Regarding costs, the MMK executive said calculations to restrict costs should be performed through examination of the advantages and strengths of the sector. Moreover, from Mr. Cakmur’s point of view, the issue of the flat steel consuming sectors should also be addressed. He said research should be carried out on how to grow sectors such as automotive, white appliances and machine manufacturing, while production of value-added products should be raised and capacity should be increased in accordance with these sectors.
Mehmet Zeren, general secretary of CEBID, said that in the flat steel sector consumption exceeds production, whereas in the long steel sector the exact opposite is true. According to Mr. Zeren, if flat steel production is not given the required importance, the import dependency of sectors using flat steel products, such as the pipe sector, will be increased.