Turkey vies for top spot in European steel production

In our country, the final steel product consumption in August 2023 increased by 19.5 percent compared to the same month in 2022, reaching 2.8 million tons, while it rose by 17.4 percent to 26.1 million tons in the January-August period.

Global crude steel production in 2022 decreased by 4.2 percent compared to 2021, totaling 1.88 billion tons.

While production increased in India and Iran among the top 10 steel-producing countries, the remaining 8 countries experienced a decline.

In 2022, India maintained its title as the world's second-largest steel producer by achieving a production of 125 million tons, a 5.5 percent increase compared to the previous year.

Japan, which ranks third, saw its production decrease by 7.4 percent compared to last year, remaining at the 89.2 million ton level.

China, which accounted for 53.9 percent of global production with 1.01 billion tons in 2022, saw its production decrease by 2.1 percent.

Evren Akar, owner of NEA METAL, who has been involved in the iron and steel business since 2013 and markets iron and steel products both in Turkey and in several countries around the world, stated, "Iron and steel products rank 10th in the list of products most subject to export and import in world trade. China, which is far ahead in steel production, is at the top of the world in terms of both exports and imports. Turkey ranks 5th in world steel exports in terms of value with 22.4 billion dollars."

Stating that 2 percent of global crude steel production is realized in Turkey, Akar said, "Our country, which is the 8th largest producer in the global crude steel industry, had a total production volume of 35.1 million tons in 2022. This data shows that Turkey accounts for 2 percent of world steel production. However, considering the fact that China dominates the market very strongly, this rate does not correspond to a very small share."

While Turkey exported 15.1 million tons of its 35.1 million tons of steel production, the sector's total export revenue in terms of value was 13.9 billion dollars.

Turkey's imports in 2022 amounted to 14.8 million tons, and the total value of imports was recorded as 15.6 billion dollars.

Turkey's steel production in the last 5 years was 37.3 million tons in 2018, 33.7 million tons in 2019, 35.8 million tons in 2020, and 40 million 360 thousand tons in 2021.

Akar said that when we exclude China's production exceeding 1 billion tons, Turkey has proven its success with a share of over 4 percent in world steel production excluding China.

Today, there are 26 electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mills, 11 induction furnace mills, and 3 basic oxygen furnace mills in Turkey.

Turkey is the world's largest scrap importer, and its rate of steel production from scrap is 72%.

The Turkish steel sector commits to meeting all global and local environmental standards without receiving government subsidies. 72% of steel production in Turkey is carried out using Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF). Steel production with EAF has a lower CO2 emission intensity compared to production with Basic Oxygen Furnaces (BOF). With a 72% EAF usage rate, Turkey is among the few environmentally friendly steel-producing countries in the world. This rate is 29% on average globally.

Touching on the subject of solar energy, Akar said, "While we provided 5.1 percent of our electricity production from solar in 2022, as of the end of September 2023, our country's installed capacity reached 105,668 MW, and we are providing 10.3 percent from solar. By using these resources more efficiently and making the necessary investments in the coming years, we can significantly reduce our foreign dependency in energy."