Veysel Yayan, secretary-general of the Turkish Association of steel producers, said Tuesday that Turkish steel consumption in 2019 will be lower than expected due to the effectiveness of protectionist measures in the country and the risk of slowing exports. But the Association expects steel consumption to fall by less than 20% by the end of this year, as the economy recovers slightly in the second half of 2019. From January to September, the steel consumption of the country decreased by 25.8% year on year to US $18.9 million, and from January to may, it decreased by 42%. The main reason for the decline is the decline in the demand for long timber, which is 7.8 million tons in Turkey compared to 12.9 million tons in January March 2018. Plate consumption fell 12% to 11.1 million tons.
Turkey's steel exports, most of which have already been exported to Europe, rose to 13.4 million tons in nine months, up from 12.1 million tons a year ago, affected by the fall in steel consumption. However, the growth of export volume is mainly affected by the export growth of Turkey from January to June. Since July this year, due to protectionist measures, Turkish steel export volume has slowed down. In addition, Turkey's exports to the United States have actually stopped, and the decline in the country's exports may continue to rise in the coming months.
At the same time, Turkish steel imports are at multi-year lows, but the share of domestic steel consumption has increased. In the first nine months, the country imported 8.6 million tons of steel, down from 11.3 million tons in the same period last year. From January to September this year, the import volume of steel plates fell from 6.2 million tons to 5.4 million tons, down 14.8% year on year.
