Steel industry came together in Kosovo

Steel Exporters' Association (ÇİB) organized a delegation to Kosovo to increase the trade volume between the two countries. With the participation of 46 representatives from 28 Turkish companies, the steel industry of the two countries came together within the scope of trade talks held in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, between February 24-26, 2025.

Ahmet Kamil Erciyas, Member of the Board of Directors of ÇİB, Ahmet Kamil Erciyas, Member of the Board of Directors of ÇİB, Mustafa Necati Tecdelioğlu, Member of the Board of Directors of ÇİB and Mehmet Ali Fincan, Member of the Board of Directors of ÇİB participated in the Kosovo Sectoral Trade Delegation organization organized under the chairmanship of Adnan Aslan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Steel Exporters' Association (ÇİB). In addition, Kosovo Ambassador to Pristina Sabri Tunç Angılı and Pristina Trade Counselor Seda Ulukaya visited the delegation and stated that it would be beneficial to increase the cooperation between the two countries. Sharing the information that the Turkish companies participating in the delegation held more than 600 full-day bilateral business meetings with 150 importing companies on February 25, 2025, ÇİB Chairman Adnan Aslan noted that the bilateral meetings were very successful.

“We expect Turkish steel industry exports to reach USD 18 billion”

Aslan emphasized that Türkiye had a 40% share in Kosovo's steel imports in 2024 and stressed that they expect this to increase to 60% in 2025. Underlining that the organized trade delegations created a great opportunity to increase exports, Aslan stated, “In 2024, we exported 17.7 million tons with an increase of 21.8% on tonnage basis compared to 2023 and USD 16.1 billion with an increase of 8.6% on value basis. We want to increase this figure in 2025 and we expect Turkish steel sector exports to be USD 18 billion this year. Although protectionism, quotas and taxes in the steel industry pose serious difficulties in exports, we aim to protect our exports by strengthening our presence in our existing markets and ensuring our presence in new markets. In this respect, we are very happy to see that our exports to every country we visit start to increase after 5-6 months. We are also aware that in order to increase exports, we need to move towards more value-added products. Manufacturers in Türkiye are currently making serious investments in high value-added products.”