TÇÜD: Crude steel production in Türkiye increased by 18% in March

Turkish Steel Producers Association (TÇÜD) announced the steel production and consumption figures for March. Accordingly, Türkiye's crude steel production increased by 18.0% yoy to 3.2 million tons in March 2024.

During the first quarter of the year, production increased by 28.4% to 9.5 million tons.

Finished product consumption decreased by 1.6% to 3.4 million tons in March, but reached 9.7 million tons in the first quarter, up 9.0% compared to the same period of 2023.

Steel exports increased

Exports of steel products increased by 41.7% to 1.1 million tons in quantity and 18.3% to 853.4 million dollars in value in March.

During the January-March period, compared to the same period of 2023, exports increased by 45.9% to 3.2 million tons in quantity and 24.4% to $2.4 billion in value.

Imports were down

Imports in March 2024, compared to the same month of 2023, decreased by 10.2% to 1.5 million tons in quantity and 15.8% to 1.2 billion dollars in value.

In January-March period, compared to the same period of 2023, imports decreased by 3.2% to 4.1 million tons in quantity and by 10.7% to 3.2 billion USD in value.

Foreign Trade Balance

Ratio of exports to imports increased to 74.9% in the first quarter of 2024.

World crude steel production decreased

World crude steel production decreased by 4.3% to 161.2 million tons in March 2024 compared to the same month of the previous year, according to data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel). In the first quarter of the year, world steel production increased by 0.5% to 469.1 million tons.

Compared to the same period of 2023, China's crude steel production decreased by 1.9% to 265.5 million tons in the first quarter of the year, while India's crude steel production, which ranked second, increased by 9.7% to 37.3 million tons and Japan's crude steel production decreased by 0.8% to 21.4 million tons.

The assessment made by TÇÜD in its statement is as follows;

"While world crude steel production increased at a symbolic rate of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2024, Türkiye produced 9.5 million tons of crude steel with an increase of 28.4% in the first quarter of the year, being the country with the highest increase in production among the world's 15 largest crude steel producing countries. However, production in the first quarter remained low compared to the first quarter of 2021, despite a 6 million ton increase in capacity.

Steel product exports increased by 45.9% in quantity to 3.2 million tons in the first quarter of the year. The rise in exports of high value-added products in particular was instrumental in the 65.7% increase in flat product exports in March. Imports decreased by 3.2% to 4.1 million tons in the same period. While consumption increased by 9%, the share of imports in consumption decreased by 5 percentage points to 40.7% compared to the same period of the previous year, due to the 3.2% decrease in imports of steel products. The ratio of exports to imports was 74.9%, significantly lower than the exports-to-imports ratio of 102% in the first quarter of 2020.

Although the increase in the steel industry's exports gained momentum, our exports to Israel, which has been one of our largest importers for many years, decreased significantly after Israel's attacks on Palestine. Our exports to Yemen, our second largest exporter, decreased by around 15% due to the conflicts in the Babu'l mendeb strait. In order to compensate for the losses in the Middle East/Gulf region, particularly in Israel and Yemen, it has become important to find alternative markets.

Imports of steel products from Far Eastern countries continued to increase by 43% in the first quarter of the year, despite the contraction in total imports of steel products. Due to the decrease in our exports to the Middle East and Gulf countries, it has become more important to meet the expected increase in Türkiye's steel consumption in the whole of 2024 from domestic resources to the maximum extent. On the other hand, in order to achieve the MTP targets, it is necessary to maintain the upward trend in exports of high value-added products, to continue initiatives to end the multifaceted protection measures against our steel industry, and to increase the competitiveness of the industry by removing all kinds of funds and restrictions on the industry."