Press Release December 2024

STEEL PRODUCTION

In December 2024, Turkey's crude steel production was 2.9 million tons, a decrease of 7.6% compared to the same month last year. For the entire year, production increased by 9.4%, reaching 36.9 million tons.

STEEL CONSUMPTION

Final product consumption increased by 11.4% in December, rising to 3.3 million tons. In 2024, it increased by 0.6% compared to the previous year, reaching 38.3 million tons.

CAPACITY UTILIZATION RATE

While the capacity utilization rate was 56.8% in 2023, it rose to 62.2% in 2024.

FOREIGN TRADE

Export

In December, steel product exports increased by 16% in terms of quantity, reaching 1.3 million tons, and by 11.9% in terms of value, reaching 888 million dollars. In 2024, exports increased by 27.6% in terms of quantity, reaching 13.4 million tons, and by 17.7% in terms of value, reaching 9.7 billion dollars.

Import

In December 2024, imports increased by 73.8% in terms of quantity, reaching 1.8 million tons, and by 37.8% in terms of value, reaching 1.2 billion dollars compared to the same month in 2023. The increase in imports was influenced by the 100% and 48% increases in the imports of semi-finished and long products, respectively. In 2024, imports increased by 1.7% annually in terms of quantity, reaching 17.4 million tons, while decreasing by 9.9% in terms of value, reaching 13.2 billion dollars.

Foreign Trade Balance

The export-to-import ratio, which was 56.6% in 2023, rose to 74.0% in 2024.

WORLD STEEL PRODUCTION

According to the December 2024 data announced by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), global crude steel production increased by 0.8% compared to the same month last year, reaching 146.8 million tons. In 2024, global steel production decreased by 0.8%, reaching 1.8 billion tons. In 2024, China's crude steel production decreased by 1.7% compared to 2023, falling to 1 billion tons, while India's crude steel production, in second place, increased by 6.3% to 149.6 million tons, and Japan's crude steel production decreased by 3.4% to 84 million tons.

ASSESSMENT

While global crude steel production decreased by 0.8% in 2024, Turkey was among the countries that increased its production the most, achieving a 9.4% increase with 36.9 million tons of crude steel production, maintaining its position as the world's 8th largest crude steel producer. Final product consumption increased by 0.6%, rising to 38.3 million tons. In 2024, the Turkish Steel Sector showed recovery in export markets. However, due to extraordinary increases observed in the last quarter, imports increased by 1.7% for the entire year. The high increases in imports from Far East countries, primarily China, as well as Indonesia and Vietnam, along with Malaysia, with which our country has a free trade agreement, negatively affected steel foreign trade. Additionally, the products offered by Chinese producers to world markets at prices almost close to input costs for the past two years have disrupted the markets. With an export of 110.7 million tons in 2024, China reached the second-highest level after the all-time high of 112.4 million tons recorded in 2015. Considering that Turkey consumed approximately 38.3 million tons of steel, with a significant portion of this consumption being imported, and that trade policy measures targeting wire rod and hot rolled coil were partially able to suppress imports due to the flexibility provided by the inward processing regime, it is necessary to implement measures similar to the trade policy measures implemented by the EU and the USA, which cover almost all products, in Turkey as well. It is evaluated that by developing and maintaining policies that encourage domestic supply, directing consumption towards the domestic market, more effectively utilizing new capacities, increasing exports and production, and contributing to reducing the sector's current account deficit will be possible. In 2025, with the expectation that tight monetary policies will be replaced by expansionary policies and consequently consumption will increase, it is vital to take the aforementioned measures to ensure that our new steel capacities do not remain idle. The start of the reconstruction period in Syria also stands out as another important topic that will affect the sector in 2025. The inability to establish political stability in Syria yet creates uncertainty about how much the potential market can be utilized, and a similar situation applies to Ukraine and Gaza. Undoubtedly, improving humanitarian conditions in all three regions as soon as possible is of primary importance. On the other hand, before the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in 2026, Eurofer's intense initiatives aimed at preventing scrap exports, which artificially aim to lower scrap prices, are feared to reduce scrap collection activities and endanger scrap supply, thereby disrupting the sustainability of our sector and efforts towards green transformation. It is important to make representations to the European Commission to prevent baseless claims under the name of "scrap leakage," which would harm the circular economy.