TÇÜD Secretary General Veysel Yayan Evaluated the Turkish Steel Sector at Steel Summit 2025
Speaking at Steel Summit 2025, the Secretary General of the Turkish Steel Producers Association (TÇÜD), Dr. Veysel Yayan, gave a presentation titled "Macroeconomic Outlook of the Turkish Steel Sector and Its Development." In his presentation, Yayan addressed the future of capacity utilization in the Turkish steel industry and the effects of political and economic events on the sector.
During his speech, Yayan discussed the Turkish economy’s position in the global steel industry, capacity utilization rates, steel production, and consumption. He emphasized the importance of the steel sector in Turkey’s economic growth by stating:
“As everyone knows, the Turkish economy is among those growing steadily. Looking at the past decade, the gross domestic product (GDP) has consistently increased. This growth has ranged between 3% and 10%. Among the sectors supporting the growth of GDP, the steel sector holds a special place.”
In addition to highlighting the importance of the steel industry, Yayan also noted that the sector has not shown steady growth in terms of GDP and that fluctuations in growth are influenced by global and domestic political factors. He said:
“Extraordinary increases in energy costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as local factors such as a sudden 50% increase in energy prices overnight in August and issues within Turkey’s economic bureaucracy, have affected the growth rate of the steel sector.”
Referring to Turkey’s 9.4% growth in 2024—contrary to global trends—Yayan commented on other sectors contributing to the steel industry’s growth:
“The manufacturing sector has made significant contributions to our development. This sector, which consumes a great deal of steel, showed only limited growth for the first time in 2024. While we had optimistic expectations for better results from the manufacturing sector in 2025, political developments in Turkey have made things difficult for the economy and bureaucracy. As a result of these economic fluctuations, $55 billion in foreign reserves were depleted. However, thanks to timely interventions by the central bank and the Ministry of Finance, Turkey’s foreign reserves now appear to be on the rise again. From the second half of the year onwards, we expect these interventions to lead to improvements in consumer sectors such as construction and automotive.”
Yayan also touched on the new trade policies of the Trump administration and the European Union, stating that the EU quotas and Trump tariffs are creating a more level playing field and are viewed positively:
“How Turkey’s exports will develop in the coming months depends on how Trump’s policies evolve. The fluctuating tariffs imposed by Trump on China, along with the EU taking similar steps, amount to negotiations that are not based on principle. In this negotiation, Turkey appears to be neither at an advantage nor at a disadvantage.”