Turkey, 8th-largest iron & steel producer

BRUSSELS - Anatolia News Agency

Blast furnaces of Turkey’s steel and iron plants have churned out 17.9 million tons in the first six months of the year, according to the World Steel Association data. Hürriyet photo

Turkey became the world’s eighth-largest producer of iron and steel in the first half of this year, up from 15th in the world 10 years ago. Turkey’s share in global iron and steel production rose from 1.76 percent to 2.34 in the same period.

Global iron and steel production increased only 1 percent in the first six months of 2012, compared with the same period last year, according to data from the World Steel Association. Global production in this sector, one of the most significant inputs of the real economy, reached 767 million tons in the same period.

The rate of increase in Turkey’s iron and steel production was much higher than the global average, at 9 percent, amounting to a volume of 17.9 million tons. Turkey ranked 15th in 2001, with 15 million tons of iron and steel production, but later climbed to 10th place with 34.1 million tons. The country overtook its close rivals Ukraine and Brazil this year, settling at 8th worldwide.

Between January and June, the biggest iron and steel producer was China, with 357.2 million tons, followed by Japan with 46.3 million tons and the United States with 38 million tons. India took fourth place with 38 million tons and Russia took fifth with 35.7 million tons in the same period. South Korea was sixth with 35 million tons followed by Germany with 21.9 tons. Brazil was in ninth place with 17.2 million tons and Ukraine was 10th with 17.2 million tons.