According to a statement released by the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (DCUD), Turkey's finished steel production and consumption saw declines in January this year, with the country's finished steel production amounting to 2.8 million mt, down by 7.7 percent year on year.

Of the total finished steel production in January, 69 percent consisted of long steel products, while 31 percent was accounted for by flat steel products. Turkey's flat steel production amounted to 865,000 mt in January, with an increase of 18.3 percent, while domestic production of long steel products fell by 16 percent to 1.9 million mt, both compared to January 2012. The DCUD noted that the rise in flat steel output was due to the strong increase of slab imports in the period in question.

Meanwhile, Turkey's total steel product consumption in January came to 2.5 million mt, falling 9.7 percent compared to the same month last year, mainly due to the 20.9 percent year-on-year decrease in the consumption of long steel products in the month in question. In January, Turkey used 1.2 million mt of long steel, while the country's flat steel consumption in the given month was 1.25 million mt, increasing by 4.7 percent compared to January 2012.

The association noted that in the first two months of 2013 Turkey's steel billet output moved down by 7.2 percent to 4 million mt, while its slab output fell by 4.5 percent to 1.5 million mt, both on year-on-year basis.