The loss of steel exports can reach 50 percent

■ Hülya Keskin Oruçoğlu

in export The steel industry, which earned $21 billion last year, is experiencing a huge loss this year. The sector, which was unable to meet energy costs and lost its competitiveness in foreign markets, is preparing to close this year with an export of 11 billion dollars, with a drop close to 50 percent. In the January-April period of this year, the steel sector was the sector with the second largest drop in exports, after ships, yachts and services. The sector, which exported 7.6 billion dollars in the period January-April 2022, exported 4.6 billion dollars with a decrease of almost 40 percent in the same period this year.

ENERGY AND THE CHINA FACTOR

Adnan Aslan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Steel Exporters Association (CIB), stated that the decline in exports reached 50 percent compared to 2022, saying: “The main reasons for the decline are the prices of the energy and China. We want energy prices to reach competitive levels.” Recalling that exports fell by 40 percent in the first two months of the year, Aslan also referred to the impact of the earthquake, saying, “The share of steel produced in Hatay, Osmaniye and Iskenderun in exports is not very large. In that decrease, the effect of the earthquake is 3 to 5 percent,” he said.

IT IS 70 PERCENT

Stating that they expect activity in the sector after July, Aslan stated that they aim to close this year with 11 billion dollars of exports. Aslan said: “This figure means a decrease of almost 50 percent compared to 2022. The decrease in exports of some products was based on 70 percent. There is a 62 percent decrease in the export of construction steel in the same period this year, compared to the period from January 1 to May 10, 2022. The decrease in the group of flat cold products is close 66 percent,” he said.

The construction steel market shrinks

Adnan Aslan, Chairman of CIB’s board of directors, stated that Turkey’s largest steel export item is construction steel, but the old export figures cannot be achieved anymore, he said: “The countries to which We export have established their own facilities, there are no markets left.The situation is clear in Europe, China is self-sufficient, Malaysia and Vietnam also produce.Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Algeria became exporters.They use natural gas and electricity at low price”, he said. Aslan emphasized that the sector will come to the fore in exports with groups of products with higher added value such as flat hot.