The Anatolia news agency reported that Turkish Iron and Steel Producers Association DÇÜD Secretary General Mr Veysel Yayan has said present uncertainties sweeping North Africa and the Middle East will not have a significant effect on Turkey’s annual steel exports,
In remarks to Anatolia, Mr Yayan said the DÇÜD sees it as possible for Turkish exports to shrink by 10% this year, but adds that the association does not see such a drop as substantial.
According to the figures he provided, Turkey’s steel exports to Egypt and Libya were at 38,000 tonnes in the first two months of this year, down from 167,000 tonnes from the same period last year.
He said “With expected wider representation in government, we envisage housing and infrastructure projects to be accelerated in Egypt. We expect Turkey’s exports to this country to rise in the medium term. The situation in Libya, however, is different from that of Egypt. We are waiting for the present environment of conflict to end. This will not be as easy as it was in Egypt.”
According to data from the Turkish Exporters Assembly TİM, Turkey’s steel exports to Libya and Egypt were recorded at USD 610 million and USD 624 million in 2010, respectively, whereas total exports to these two nations last year were about USD 2 billion and USD 3.5 billion, respectively.
(Source: www.steelguru.com )