Steel Strip

Steel production in Turkey jumped 13.5 percent in the first quarter of 2007, reaching 6.1 million tons, making the country the world’s 11-largest producer of natural steel.

The world’s natural steel (steel made by the direct refining of cast iron) production was 288.6 million tons in last year’s first quarter. It grew 10.3 percent in the first three months of this year to 318.3 million tons. The Turkish Iron and Steel Producers Association bulletin released a list on world steel production for January to March. China is in first place, producing 93.6 million tons last year and 114.7 million tons this year. In the same period last year, Japan produced 28 million tons and this year produced 29.5 million tons.

Turkey’s natural steel production was 16.4 million tons in 2002, 18.2 million tons in 2003, 20.4 million tons in 2004, 20.99 million tons in 2005, 23.3 million tons in 2006 and 6.1 million tons in the first quarter of 2007. The production of sheet steel increased only 253,000 tons in the past six years. Sheet steel production was 2.89 million tons in 2002, 3.09 million tons in 2003, 3.03 million tons in 2004, 3.10 million tons in 2005 and 3.14 million tons in 2006. Some 761,000 tons of sheet steel was produced in the first quarter of 2006, rising to 809,000 tons in this year’s first quarter.