In Q4 2020 Turkish steel sector increased its crude steel production volume and experienced lower volumes of imported steel. Sector-wide normalization became more apparent in this quarter for the steel sector. Turkish steel producers focused their attention on the increasing local demand for steel, resulting in 16.3% y-o-y monthly average increase in crude steel production. This trend continued during the first three weeks period of 2021. Despite the pandemic’s impact, Turkey became the 7th largest crude steel producer in 2020.
| Turkish Steel Sector 2020 | Q1 2020 | Q2 2020 | Q3 2020 | Q4 2020 | Total 2020 | 2020 vs 2019 |
| Crude Steel Production | 9,000,000 tons | 7,400,000 tons | 9,520,000 tons | 9,880,000 tons | 35,800,000 tons | +6% |
| Finished Steel Consumption | 7,700,000 tons | 5,600,000 tons | 8,400,000 tons | 7,700,000 tons | 29,400,000 tons | +12.9% |
| Steel Exports | 5,100,000 tons | 4,900,000 tons | 5,200,000 tons | 1,400,000 tons | 16,600,000 tons | -5.5% |
| Steel Exports Value | $2.6 billion | $1.596 billion* | $2.604 billion* | $1.8 billion | $8.6 billion | -10.9% |
| Steel Imports | 3,600,000 tons | 2,788,000 tons | 3,612,000 tons | 2,500,000 tons | 12,500,000 tons | +4.5% |
| Steel Imports Value | $2,6 billion | $2.115 billion | $2.438 billion | $0.547 billion | $7.7 billion | -2.9% |
Source: TCUD – Turkish Steel Producers Association
Turkish steel exports value grew parallel to increasing demand for steel products as steel using sectors continued their operations in Q4 2020 period. Volume of exported steel jumped 25% to 1.5 million tons in November, followed by a 22.1% increase to 1.8 million tons in December. Steel exports’ value was up 33.6% on average in the last two months period, reaching $818 million and $983 million respectively.
Compared to 2019, steel exports volume decreased by 5.5% and exports value was 10.9% lower in 2020. Turkish steel exports volume to the European Union plunged 40%. Local steel exporters are eyeing EU’s safeguard measures’ expiration date on June 30th 2021 for a potential extension. The European Commission recently announced it is reviewing the steel safeguard measures as twelve EU member states requested extending them in January 2021.
The sudden price hikes and fluctuations in demand lagged the supply chains in December. Consequently, steel imports volume dropped 31.9% to 994,000 tons in December 2020, contrasting the monthly 23.1% year-over-year growth in November.
According to Turkish Steel Producers Association (TCUD), imported steel volume surged 8.2% to 10.4 million tons between January – October. Based on Turkish Statistical Institute’s data, imported cold rolled coil volume grew 8.1% to 690,912 tons; whereas hot rolled coil imports volume declined 7.3% to 3,510,000 tons in 2020.
Scrap steel and ore prices experienced an uptick in Q4 2020 Turkish steel market. In November, scrap metal prices soared 20% higher to $348 per ton from October. Ore prices increased by 11% to $130 per ton in the same period. Finished steel prices followed the same trend in November.
Sources:
Tufan Iron & Steel
Tufan Iron & Steel
Tufan Demir Celik
Tufan Demir Celik
Tufan Iron & Steel