Turkish Steel Producers Association (TÇÜD) announced production, consumption and foreign trade data for May 2025. According to the data, Türkiye maintained its position as the world's 8th and Europe's largest steel producer after Iran.
In the first five months of the year, Türkiye's crude steel production decreased by 1.4% compared to the same period last year to 15.5 million tons. In this period, world crude steel production decreased by 1.3% to 783.9 million tons.
Finished steel production up, consumption down
In May 2025, Türkiye's finished products production increased by 5.7% to 3.7 million tons, while consumption increased by 1.1% to 3.5 million tons. In the January-May period, finished product production increased by 0.4%, while consumption decreased by 4.7%.
Flat product production decreased by 11.6% to 1.3 million tons in May, while consumption decreased by 11.1% to 1.6 million tons. In the first five months, flat product production and consumption decreased by 7.6% and 12%, respectively.
In the long product group, production increased by 18.7% to 2.4 million tons, while consumption increased by 15.7% to 1.8 million tons. In the five-month period, long product production and consumption increased by 6.1% and 3.7%, respectively.
Export increase drew attention
In May, Türkiye's exports of steel products increased by 21.1% in quantity terms compared to the same month of the previous year and reached 1.4 million tons. Looking at the sub-product groups, exports of semi-finished products increased by 19.7%, flat products by 2.2% and long products by 20.3%.
In the January-May period, total exports of steel products increased by 18%, while exports of semis, flat products and long products increased by 102.5%, 20.2% and 12.9%, respectively.
High rate of increase in imports
In May 2025, imports of steel products increased by 26.4% y/y to 1.6 million tons. In this period, imports of semi-finished products and flat products increased by 54.4% and 10%, respectively, while imports of long products decreased by 8.7%.
In the first five months of the year, imports of steel products increased by 6% to 8 million tons. In sub-groups, imports of long products and semi-products increased by 9.3% and 14.1%, respectively, while imports of flat products decreased by 8.7%.
Scrap imports decreased
Türkiye's scrap imports decreased by 5.4% in January-May period. While scrap imports from EU countries had the largest share with an increase of 5.1%, imports from CIS countries increased by a remarkable 74.5%. Imports from other regions declined.
Ratio of exports to imports increased
In the first five months of 2025, the ratio of exports to imports increased compared to the same period of 2024, rising from 71.03% to 80.74%. However, the rapid increase in imports in May caused this ratio to remain below its four-month level of 83.44%.
While the share of imports in total steel products consumption was 47%, this ratio rose to 68% for flat products. 57.2% of total imports were realized under the Inward Processing Regime (IPR). The import rate within the scope of DIR was 72.1% for semis, 47.7% for flat products and 35.7% for long products.
In his statement, TÇÜD Secretary General Veysel Yayan noted;
"In addition to the protection measures and dumping decisions taken, in order to limit imports from Far East countries, especially China, it is important to place the IPR practice on a basis that prioritizes domestic supply, to continue the initiatives to end the multifaceted protection measures against our steel sector and to increase competitiveness with measures to reduce input costs, in order to increase the contribution of our sector to closing the current account balance deficit. "
Comments
No comment yet.