Record Achieved in Steel, Manufacturer Demands Quota Flexibility
The steel industry carried the flag forward in exports in the first 5 months of 2021 and the exporter; In the January-May period, with an increase of 38.3 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, and exceeding 83 billion dollars, it signed the highest first 5-month export in the history of the Republic. In May, 25 sectors increased their exports compared to the same month of the previous year. While the increases in many sectors exceeded 100 percent, the steel industry realized the highest monthly export in its history with 1 billion 745 million dollars.
THE FIRST 5-MONTH EXPORT RECORD IN THE HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC WAS BROKEN
AS Steel YKB Erkan Sezer, stating that Turkey achieved a growth of 35.8 million tons in global crude steel production with a growth of 6 percent last year, said, “The Brussels-based World Steel Association (Worldsteel ) data, this growth has raised Turkey from 8th place to 7th place. As Turkish companies, we have accelerated our investments to increase our production in Turkey. Although 2020 was a difficult year not only in Turkey but also all over the world, we never stopped our investments. We never took a break from our production, which brought us to this point, in this period. As Turkish steel producers, we are closely followed around the world with our success in our global business.”
As exporters, we convey our request to increase government support during epidemics in order to increase export prices to the targeted level,” said Erkan Sezer, continuing his words as follows:
“We have been going through difficult times in America and the European Union, which are the biggest markets of the iron and steel industry, due to protective measures since 2018. In our exports to the USA, an additional tax of 25 percent is applied to steel products and 10 percent to aluminum products, and an additional tax of 25 percent is paid in case of exceeding the quota within the scope of the protection measure applied in steel exports to the European Union. While the quota application is expected to end on June 30, the pressure from European steelmakers to continue as of June 30, the expiry date of the 3-year safeguard measure of quotas continues. Similarly, the preliminary decision that the UK’s quota application will continue has also been published. The continuation of additional taxes and quotas causes negativity for Turkish steel producers. It is absolutely necessary to take initiatives at the Ministry to stretch or remove the quotas, and also because the steel industry is at the forefront of Turkey’s most important export items under these harsh conditions.
The majority of steel production in Turkey is made from scrap, and it is one of the sectors where recycling and circular economy are applied most intensively. From this perspective, it will be beneficial to support green production investments by using coal alternative resources in this period when this more environmentally friendly production style compared to production with ore and the transition to green production gain importance.”
Evaluating the export performance of the sector, AS Steel Chairman of the Board Erkan Sezer said, “The steel industry became the third sector that contributed the most to the economy in foreign trade with its exports of 1 billion 745 million dollars in May. We rose to the third rank in exports this month with the effect of the increase in steel prices. We expect this momentum to continue increasingly in the rest of the year. The steel industry, which continues its efforts for sustainable exports, continues to contribute to Turkey’s total exports. “Our exports were calculated as 1 billion 745 million dollars. This figure means that the sector is the third industry branch that contributes the most to the country’s economy in foreign trade. Therefore, we want to draw attention to the necessity of increasing the support.”
THE EXPORT TARGET HAS BEEN UPPER REVISED!
Emphasizing that they anticipate that the upward momentum experienced in the sector’s exports will continue in the rest of the year, Erkan Sezer said, “With the effect of the increase in steel prices, we moved up to the third rank in exports this month. We achieved an increase of 114 percent in exports in May compared to the same period of the previous year. With this figure, we reached the highest monthly export in history. Steel prices in particular increased in the world and deliveries accelerated after this month. All of these had a positive impact on our export figures. As Turkish steel producers, we have set our 2021 year-end targets to reach 23 million tons with an increase of 10 percent in quantity and to achieve 17.5 billion dollars with an increase of nearly 40 percent in value, within the scope of global normalization expectations.
50% INCREASE IN THE FIRST 5 MONTHS
Providing information on AS Steel’s exports for the January-May period of 2021, AS Steel Chairman Erkan Sezer said, “We have achieved an increase of 50 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. We believe that this acceleration will continue to increase upwards in the rest of the year. We think that we will exceed our export figures for 2020. At the end of the year, we think that we will exceed our export figures for 2020. As steel and steel construction manufacturers, we have signed contracts with Central Asia and Europe in order to deliver the strength and strength of Turkish steel to the whole world with an increasing export graphic. and we are working to increase our tonnage.As AS Steel, we will continue to represent our country by building exemplary projects with the power of steel.”
We rose to third place in exports. We achieved an increase of 114 percent in exports in May compared to the same period of the previous year. ‘ he declared.
