Geri
Foreign trade deficit in the steel industry has reached 3.5 billion dollars. According to the information received from the Turkish Steel Producers Association, the steel industry closed last year in a positive way in terms of production and consumption. Türkiye's crude steel production reached 36.9 million tonnes in 2024 with an increase of 9.4 percent compared to the previous year. However, as of December 2024, production decreased by 7.6 percent compared to December 2023 to 2.9 million tonnes. Consumption of finished products increased by 11.4 percent to 3.3 million tonnes in December 2024 compared to the same month in 2023. Total finished product consumption for the year increased by 0.6 percent to 38.3 million tonnes. While the capacity utilisation rate in the steel sector was 56.8 percent in 2023, this level was recorded as 62.2 percent in 2024. In December 2024, exports of steel products increased by 16 percent in terms of quantity to 1.3 million tonnes and increased by 11.9 percent in value to $ 888 million compared to the previous year. On the other hand, imports of steel products increased by 73.8 percent year-on-year in quantity to 1.8 million tonnes and by 37.8 percent in value to $1.2 billion in December. The 100 percent and 48 percent increases in imports of semi-products and long products, respectively, were effective in this increase in imports. In 2024, total imports increased by 1.7 percent in quantity compared to 2023 to 17.4 million tonnes and decreased by 9.9 percent in value to USD 13.2 billion. The ratio of exports to imports reached 74 percent in 2024, up from 56.6 percent in 2023. Veysel Yayan, Secretary General of the Turkish Steel Producers Association, stated that Türkiye was one of the countries that increased its production the most and maintained its position as the world's 8th largest crude steel producer. ‘In addition to Malaysia, which has a free trade agreement with our country, the high rate of increase in imports from Far East countries such as China, Indonesia and Vietnam had a negative progress on steel foreign trade. For the last two years, Chinese producers' offering products to the world markets at prices close to their costs has upset the markets. With 110.7 million tonnes of exports in 2024, China reached the second highest level after the all-time high of 112.4 million tonnes in 2015.’ Yayan emphasised that similar measures to the trade policy measures implemented by the European Union (EU) and the US, covering many products, need to be implemented in Türkiye.
