TCUD; Turkey's crude steel production increased by 4.1% compared to the same month of the previous year

Turkish Steel Producers Association issued a press release on crude steel production and foreign trade data.

Crude steel production increased compared to the same month of last year

In October 2023, Turkey's crude steel production increased by 4.1% yoy to 3.0 million tonnes. In the January-October period, crude steel production decreased by 8.8% to 27.5 million tonnes.

Final product consumption was 2.9 million tonnes in October

Finished product consumption increased by 4.0% yoy to 2.9 million tonnes in October compared to the same month of 2022 and by 17.1% yoy to 31.9 million tonnes in January-October period.

Export figures increased in terms of quantity but decreased in terms of value

In October 2023, compared to the same month of 2022, exports of steel products increased by 3.9% to 1.1 million tonnes in quantity and decreased by 8.2% to 780.2 million USD in value.

In the January-October period, compared to the same period of 2022, exports decreased by 36.4% to 8.5 million tonnes in quantity and 44.7% to $6.9 billion in value.

Import figures decreased in terms of value
In October 2023, imports of steel products increased by 3.1% to 1.2 million tonnes in quantity and decreased by 5.2% to 1.0 billion USD in value compared to the same month of 2022.

Foreign Trade Balance
The ratio of exports to imports, which was 92.7 per cent in the first ten months of 2022, decreased to 54.0 per cent in the same period of 2023.

World crude steel production data were announced as follows

According to data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) for October 2023, world crude steel production increased by 0.6% to 150.1 million tonnes compared to the same month of the previous year and by 0.2% to 1 billion 567 million tonnes in the first 10 months of the year.

In the first 10 months of the year, China's crude steel production increased by 1.4% to 874.7 million tonnes compared to the same period of 2022, while India's crude steel production, which ranked second, increased by 12.1% to 116.2 million tonnes and Japan's production decreased by 3.0% to 72.9 million tonnes.

TÇÜD, on the other hand, made the following assessment;

In 2023, Turkey's crude steel production followed a horizontal trend starting from April and started to increase in the third quarter of the year. This trend continued in October and production increased by 4.1% compared to the same month of the previous year. This was partly due to the commissioning of new capacities as of the second half of 2023. However, even in the months with the highest production increase, production remained below the average of the last three years. Considering that in 2021, the monthly average production reached 3.4 million tonnes, it is assessed that production is currently below the expected levels.

On the other hand, while there was a 36.4% decrease in exports of steel products and an 8.8% decrease in crude steel production in the first 10 months of 2023, the 18.8% increase in imports clearly shows that the consumption capacity of our country is transferred abroad and imports are destroying our steel sector. If 2021 is taken as a basis, it is seen that the decrease in exports exceeds 50%.

For this reason, it is of vital importance not only for the Turkish steel industry but also for the Turkish economy to put an end to this situation as soon as possible by using all instruments in our country, as in the EU and the USA, while new balances are created in the economy.