Steel exports down in August

ISTANBUL

The Turkish steel industry’s exports declined by 25 percent in August from a year ago to 1.4 million tons, the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TÇÜD) has said.

Local steelmakers’ export revenues fell 31.5 percent on an annual basis to $1.2 billion.

In the month, the industry’s production amounted to 2.8 million tons, down 21 percent from August 2021, while domestic steel consumption fell by 12.1 percent on an annual basis to 2.3 million tons.

Türkiye was the world’s eighth largest steel producer in August, ranking after Germany, while China claimed the top spot at 83.9 million tons of production.

The country cut its import of steel by 7.1 percent from a year ago to 1.1 million tons and in terms of value, imports dropped by 7.9 percent to $1.3 billion.

The share of imported steel in total consumption was 31.8 percent, said the association, adding that the export/import coverage ratio eased from 104.2 percent in January-August last year to 93.9 percent in the first eight months of 2022.

From January to August, the steel industry’s production was down by 8.8 percent to 24.4 million tons.

Local producers delivered 11.1 million tons of steel to foreign markets during this period, marking a 12.4 percent year-on-year decline while export revenues increased by 8.8 percent to $10.5 billion.

Domestic steel consumption stood at 21.9 million tons in January-August, decreasing by 5.4 percent from a year ago. The country reduced its imports of steel by 5.6 percent to 10.2 million tons, but the import bill grew nearly 21 percent to $11.2 billion.

“The decline in steel production, which began at the start of the year, accelerated in the first half. Monthly output and exports fell by 18.3 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively, on average in the past three months,” said TÇÜD.

It added that the impacts of the price hikes in electricity and natural gas on the industry are yet to be seen. “All this suggests that the final quarter of the year will be difficult for the steel sector,” it said.