Turkish steel industry aims for 70 pct capacity use next year

ANKARA

At a time when the global steel industry has been struggling with problems, Turkish steelmakers aim to boost their capacity utilization to 70 percent next year.

There is no contraction in the Turkish steel industry presently, rather there are efforts to boost production and increase employment to compensate for the losses experienced in the past years, said Veysel Yayan, general secretary of the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TÇÜD).

“The capacity utilization rate in the Turkish steel industry is currently 62.6 percent. It is aimed to increase this rate to 70 percent in 2025,” he said.

Turkish steelmakers usually adopt a strategy of avoiding cutting workforce in times of contraction, he explained.

“At troubled periods, instead of reducing the number of employees, the major steel producers in the country prefer to reduce the number of shifts, prioritize maintenance and repair work, explore product diversification, turn to alternative export markets,” he added.

“In the most difficult cases, they put their personnel on leave,” Yayan said, recalling that European steel giant Thyssenkrupp AG has announced plans to lay off 11,000 workers by 2030.

The layoff decision taken by Thyssenkrupp AG is a solid indicator of the difficulties the sector is experiencing, according to Yayan.

The crude steel output of Türkiye, the world’s eighth-largest producer, increased by 0.7 percent annually in October to 3 million tons, according to data from the World Steel Association.

In the first 10 months of 2024, the country’s production surged 12.4 percent year-on-year to 30.9 million tons.

World crude steel production for the 71 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was 1.55 billion tons in January-October, a 1.6 percent decline from a year ago.