Turkey: Crude steel production up slightly in Jan-Aug

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's crude steel production this January-August rose slightly compared to the same period last year, according to a trade group.

Production climbed 0.6% year-on-year to 22.7 million tons in the first eight months of this year, the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) said late Thursday.

The volume of the country's steel product exports slipped 10.2% to 13 million tons during the same period.

Turkey's earnings from steel exports stood at $9.1 billion in January-August, an annual decrease of 16%.

But steel imports rose 8.7% to 8.7 million tons in the same period, while in terms of value, it dropped 5.1% to $6.3 billion.

- August figures

Some 3.2 million tons of crude steel were produced in Turkey this August, up 22.9% from the same month last year.

The rise in the figure boosts optimistic expectations for the rest of the year, the group said.

Citing World Steel Association (worldsteel) data, the association said global crude steel output this August rose 0.6% year-on-year to 56.2 million tons.