According to a statement released by the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association, in March this year Turkey's crude steel production rose by 24.9% YoY reaching 2.744 million tonnes while the MoM increase was registered at 11.1%. In March, steel production using electric arc furnaces increased by 36.7% while production via blast furnaces rose by 1.1% both compared to March 2010.
On the other hand, in the Q1 of 2011, Turkey's crude steel output amounted to 7.9 million tonnes increasing by 31% as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
In the first 3 months of this year, Turkey's steel billet output moved up by 24% to 5.8 million tonnes and its slab output climbed by 55% to 2.1 million tonnes both on YoY basis. Due to the steep increase in the country's slab output, the share of steel billet in total crude steel production declined from 77.5% to 73.4% while the share of slab rose by 22.5% to 26.6% both compared to Q1 2010.
The DCUD said that Due to the base effect arising from the steep decline in crude steel output in Q1 2010, the yoY increase rate in the Q1 of this year was high. However, this increase is expected to slow down in the coming months and to settle at 15% to 20%. Turkey managed to increase its monthly crude steel production in March, despite the demand contraction in its major export markets by compensating with exports to other markets.
( Source: www.steelguru.com )