Steel Mills in Disaster Areas of Turkey Have No Plans to Resume Production Yet

Two 7.8-magnitude earthquakes hit Turkey's Kahramanmaras province on February 6 and are currently severely affecting 10 neighboring cities, causing gas and electricity supply disruptions in the region. Under current conditions, steel production in the region has ceased. Iskenderun-based steel producer Isdemir's due diligence continues.

According to Mysteel, steel production in the affected areas will not start until at least the end of this month, or even until mid-March, and electric arc furnaces may start production earlier than blast furnaces. The region affected by the earthquake accounts for 25-30% of the country's total annual steel production. According to preliminary assessments, the local steel mills have not been seriously damaged and will resume production as soon as the situation goes well. Under current conditions, the country's steel production is expected to decline in February, and for now, steel producers in other parts of Turkey will focus on meeting domestic demand rather than export markets. In addition, apart from a fire in the container area of Limak Port in Iskenderun, there was no serious damage at other ports, according to a statement from the Turkish Port Operators Association.

It is understood that the strong earthquake may cause Turkey's economic loss of more than 84 billion US dollars which is about 10% of the gross domestic product (GDP) including housing losses estimated at more than $70 billion and national income losses of $10.4 billion. In addition, infrastructure such as roads, electricity, natural gas, oil pipelines, communications, hospitals and schools in Turkey were also damaged in the disaster.

Credit: www.mysteel.com