Türkiye plans to return to Europe’s largest steel producer this year

Türkiye Steel Producers Association (TCUD) recently said that Türkiye's goal is to regain the position of Europe's largest steel producer in 2024, and it is expected that the steel output will increase in 2024. The country also has a long-term goal of surpassing South Korea to become the world's sixth largest steel SGLH540 steel producer.

In 2023, Türkiye's crude steel output will be 33.7 million tons/year, far less than 40.4 million tons/year in 2021. The association pointed out that after the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, the sharp rise in energy prices has damaged the competitiveness of Türkiye's factories in the global market. In addition, the devastating earthquake that struck southeast Türkiye in early 2023 also severely affected the country's steel production, especially in the first half of 2023. The Association hopes to regain its position as the largest steel producer in Europe in 2024 with the support of such positive factors as new steel production capacity, demand recovery, energy cost reduction and recent protection measures announced by the Ministry of Trade of Türkiye. Tosyali Holding, one of the largest steel producers in Türkiye, will start production in the fourth quarter of 2023 at its new 4 million ton/year flat mill in Sariseki, Iskenderun, southeast Türkiye. Other large steel producers in Türkiye have recently increased their steel production capacity through new investment SGLH540 steel.

The Ministry of Trade of Türkiye is also conducting anti-dumping investigations on hot rolled coils imported from India, Japan, Russia and other countries, and will take anti-dumping measures according to the investigation results. The department also issued a presidential decree on December 31, implementing a temporary safeguard measure of $175 per ton for imported non-alloy and alloy wires for a period of 200 days. Türkiye Steel Producers Association said that these protective measures are expected to support the production and sales of Türkiye's steel mills in 2024. In 2023, steel prices of Türkiye's steel mills will face the pressure of low demand, high energy costs and fierce competition SGLH540 steel.