Turkey’s crude steel production reverses, falls 9% in January

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The country previously had one of the highest growth rates for crude steel production among the top ten steel producers in the world, especially over the past two years, the assn said.

China, the leading producer in the world, increased its crude steel output by 4.6% in January 2013 to 59.3 million tonnes, DCUD noted.

Global production increased by 0.8% to 124.5 million tonnes for the month.

Japan’s output increased by 2.7% to 8.7 million tonnes in January 2013, but US crude steel production declined by 5.8% to 7.3 million tonnes, DCUD said.

Germany, which ranks seventh among global steel producing nations, just above Turkey, reported a 5.4% increase to 3.5 million tonnes. But the ninth-ranked producer, Ukraine, reported a 4.4% decline in crude steel output to 2.7 million tonnes.

Although Turkey maintained its ranking of eighth position in the top producers’ list, the difference between Turkish and Ukrainian output narrowed in January, DCUD said.

Despite partly positive sentiment in 2012, exports have decreased recently, the association said.

The declining trend in exports began in December 2012 and did not turn positive until mid-February, it said.

In January 2013, Turkish rebar exports declined by 25% year-on-year, and sections exports fell by 6.4%, DCUD said.

Falling volumes for these products were slightly compensated by increasing export tonnages for billet (36%) and hot rolled coil (89%).

Unconfirmed figures for February show that rebar exports declined by 18% in the first half of the month, DCUD said.