Whirling dervishes, the magical city of Istanbul and the Bosporus Straits is what comes readily to mind when we think of Turkey. But straddling Asia and Europe as it does, Turkey has today emerged also as a major industrial power in the world, enjoying a growth rate of 8.2 percent in 2010 and making its mark globally in several sectors.
The steel industry in Turkey is one important sector driving the growth and there is important learning for us derive from this. Consider some major facts to start with. Turkey in 2011 was Europe's second largest crude steel producer, and tenth in the world ranking of steel-producing countries. The steel industry has witnessed consistent and strong growth, expanding exponentially especially over the past five years in response to strong world demand for quality steel products. Today Turkey has 23 electric arc furnace mills (EAF) and 3 induction furnaces, with a capacity range from 200,000 to 5 million tons, and its 3 BOF plants have capacities ranging from 1.5 to 3.5 million tons. Total crude steel production reached 34.1 million tons in 2011 and was expected to reach to 38 million tons in 2012. Compare this to the 1.1 million tons installed capacity of Pakistan Steel to appreciate the scale of steel production in Turkey.
The share of steel in the total exports of the country rose to 11.4% in 2011, from an insignificant 1.9% in 1981. Today Turkey is a major exporter of steel products overall and the world's leading exporter of reinforced bars. Despite the global economic downturn, international demand for Turkish steel products has shown resilience and remains high. In 2011, the country exported 18.1 million tons of steel products worth US $15.4 billion. The products exported included billets, slabs, long products, flat products, tubes and pipes, construction products and appliances.
It is also significant that the steel export is not dependant on 1 or 2 markets. While the biggest export partners are Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Egypt and the USA; Turkish steel manufacturers have exported their products to almost all the countries in the world of the world on the strength of the high quality of products, competitive prices and effective marketing strategies. In 2011, Turkey's main export region is the Middle East, with the top three destinations being the Iraq, UAE, and Saudi Arabia, together constituting almost 40% of total steel exports. The European Union is Turkey's second most important export destination, after the Middle East, and continues to become as an export market.
We know that in the world today, growth in all sectors is being seen mostly in emerging regions such as Latin America, North Africa and Asia. Recognising this, for the Turkish steel exporters too these regions are increasingly becoming key destinations for export of their products, accounting today for a third of total steel exports. Pakistan as a market has also now come into focus and a high-powered steel exporters' delegation, including also some government officials, is expected to visit Pakistan in early March for meetings with government in Islamabad, and B2B meetings with steel importers in Islamabad and in Karachi. For the Pakistani importers of steel from worldwide sources, both commercial importers and industrial end-users, this is an excellent opportunity to enter into meaningful relationships with reliable suppliers of their needs, from a country whose friendship with us is both strong and time-tested.
While Turkish steel is employed in a range of industries across the globe, from construction to heavy Engineering, it is quite interesting to review also some of the world-renowned projects where Turkish steel has been used. References as we know are important to establish the credentials of any company or sector.
To start off, it is noteworthy that half of the approximately 60,000 tons of steel used in the Al Burjtower in Dubai, at 1,050 meters the world's tallest building, was supplied by Turkish manufacturers.
Consider some other high profile international projects using Turkish steel. These include the Dubai Underground Project, Heathrow Airport terminal extension, Turkey-Greece natural gas pipeline, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline and car manufacturing of Toyota Corolla and Verso, Honda Civic & Citi, Hyundai Accent & Matrix,Renault Megane & Clio and Fiat Albea, PalioDoblo & Linea. Household electronics and white goods manufacturing are also important users of Turkish steel, both internationally and domestically.
The issues of environmental change and global warming are challenges that are impacting all the world's citizens and countries, and require a response from all nations, particularly from those involved in production of industrial goods. It is therefore reassuring to note that the Turkish steel industry is rising to the challenge in a number of ways, striving to reduce the environmental impact of its production methods, not least through being a champion recycler of steel in its production processes. Of the 34.1 million tons of crude steel produced in 2011, 72% was produced using scrap as raw material. As a virtual champion in recycling, Turkey is today the biggest importer of ferrous scrap in the world.
As a learning it is also highly important to note that today all steel production companies in Turkey are privately held. The steelmakers continue to pursue technological developments to enhance the long-term viability of the industry both in the global market-place and to serve domestic demand.In Turkey itself the per capita steel consumption is 340 kg, compared to a world average of 175 kg. By comparison Pakistan with a per capita steel consumption of only 38 kg is far behind. However if we assume that the consumption goes up to about 100 kg over the next 10 years, then the steel requirement would be around 20 million tons per annum by year 2020, for a population that will reach to about 200 million by then.
Thus clearly we need to think ahead and revamp and expand our own steel industry, reducing the reliance on imports. In the meantime, Pakistan continues to import from a variety of sources, ranging from Ukraine in the north to South Africa in the south and the USA in the west to China in the East. And now Turkish steel is poised to make an aggressive entry into this market, enhancing trade between 2 countries that have a long history of extremely cordial and mutually supportive relations.
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