Türkiye's steel industry maintained a positive momentum in production in July after a positive first half of the year, with output rising 7% on an annual basis, according to a report on Saturday.
Crude steel production rose to 3.4 million tons in July, up 7% compared to the same period a year earlier, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported, citing sectoral data.
According to the figures released by the Turkish Steel Producers Association (TÇÜD), production rose by 7.9% to 23.2 million tons in the first seven months of the year overall.
TÇÜD, which also provides data on consumption and foreign trade, said that finished steel product consumption, meanwhile, declined by 5.1% year-on-year in July to 3.5 million tons. Meanwhile, consumption for the January-July period increased by 4.7% to 23.3 million tons.
Foreign trade in steel products
Steel product exports, on the other hand, increased by 2.9% year-over-year in July in volume terms, reaching 1.2 million tons, while their value rose by 4.4% to $827.3 million.
During the January-July period, exports rose by 2.4% on a yearly basis in volume terms to 9 million tons, while their value rose by 1.6% to $6.1 billion.
Imports in July fell by 19.7% year-over-year in volume terms to 1.5 million tons, while their value declined by 17.6% to $1.1 billion.
In the first seven months of the year, imports decreased slightly by 3% year-over-year in volume terms to 10.7 million tons, while their value dropped by 4.9% to $7.4 billion.
The ratio of exports to imports, which stood at 76.9% in the January-July period last year, thus improved to 82.1% during the same period this year.
In a statement, TÇÜD Secretary General Veysel Yayan said the increase in production demonstrated that the sector had strengthened its production performance during the first seven months of the year.
Yayan noted that an 85% increase in exports to South America, which reached 762,000 tons, had a positive impact on total steel product exports.
Protection measures, EU exports
However, "all these developments do not yet fully reflect the negative consequences of the quota system, which is expected to lead to a contraction of approximately 4 million tons in our exports to the EU," he said.
"In the coming months, the contraction in our exports to the EU is expected to accelerate," he added.
"On the other hand, the presence of Chinese-origin steel products in the Turkish market continues to increase, with steel imports from China reaching approximately 2.5 million tons during the first seven months of the year," Yayan noted.
"In this context, we believe that implementing safeguarding measures in Türkiye, similar to those already being applied in various countries, particularly the EU, the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, would make a significant contribution to increasing capacity utilization rates, supporting domestic production, economic growth, and employment."