During the panel discussion at the SteelOrbis Market Talks Meeting held in Izmir on January 16, Dr. Veysel Yayan, general secretary of the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (DCUD), informed participants regarding the performance of the steel industry during 2012. Yayan said that, after registering 17 percent growth in 2011, the production growth of the Turkish steel industry started to slow down in 2012, though Turkey continued to register the highest growth rate worldwide in terms of steel output.
Dr. Yayan stated that the Turkish steel industry output grew by 5.11 percent in 2012, while global crude steel output saw a one percent increase, adding that the difference between Turkish crude steel output and that of Germany stands at 7 million mt and predicting that Turkey will leave Germany behind in 2016.
The DCUD general secretary indicated that, as a result of the extended contraction in the EU market, the EU started to export volumes which were not sold in the domestic market, causing an 18-19 percent increase in the EU's steel exports to Turkey, while steel exports from Turkey to the EU decreased. Yayan underlined that in 2012 Turkey's iron and steel exports were equivalent to 152 percent of its iron and steel product imports.
After touching upon the protective measures and antidumping duty investigations launched against Turkey by various countries, Dr. Yayan pointed out that the five percent import duty exemption for UAE-based rebar cutters and benders is still in force, though the monitoring of imports will be stricter and this might pose a challenge for the Turkish steel industry. Yayan also stated that the antidumping duty investigations by the EU are generally rescinded with applications being withdrawn, while he said that the latest antidumping duty investigation against steel imports from Turkey has been launched by Morocco for hot rolled flat steel.
