We talked to Emrah Kendüzler, Sales and Marketing Director of Yıldız Demir Çelik about current conditions and outlook for the coated steel industry for the special report section for our Prime magazine.
What are your standard products and end markets?
At Yıldız Demir Çelik, we produce high-tech and high value-added flat steel in Turkey. With our continuous galvanizing line which has an annual capacity of 400,000 mt, we have a product range that can supply lots of different sectors from white appliances to construction. At our plant, we turn hot rolled input material into pickled, hot or cold rolled/annealed, galvanized or coated finished steel, after going through several production procedures in accordance with the needs and demands of our customers.
In addition, we have a 300,000 mt electrolytic cleaning capacity, a 300,000 mt annealing capacity, a 450,000 mt temper line and a 150,000 mt coating line capacity, and we are aiming to produce goods to meet the needs of the white appliances and automotive sectors. At our company’s steel service center, we perform shredding, cut-to-length and trapezodial cutting services in accordance with our customers’ demands.
How do you find demand in the sectors to which you supply services?
Looking at the market reactions in the first half of the year, we can say that there is strong demand from both domestic and foreign customers. We interpret this situation as an indicator that Yıldız Demir Çelik is going to fill a sizeable gap in the sector. The feedbacks from our customers support our expectations. Despite the challenging circumstances in both the local and global economy, we have maintained our importing, exporting, marketing and selling activities and we are moving ahead at full speed to reach our goals. Our goal is to become one of the three major players in the steel market. We will increase our value-added product range to become a global player and make a difference in the sector.
In your opinion, what are the primary problems in need of resolution which face the galvanized steel sector?
We have observed that investments in value-added products in Turkey have increased lately. In particular, in the last decade with increasing investments in the galvanized product group, local producers have been meeting more of the market needs, while exporting more product groups. In addition to all these positive developments, there is competitiveness between lots of alternative producers, while overall market needs cannot be completely met by local producers and this causes the import volume to remain stable. At this point, I would like to point out that we, as the youngest and the most dynamic player in the sector, have the required motivation and sources to supply Turkey’s iron and steel needs. I believe that we will reach this goal in the coming period.
How do you view competition in the international HDG and PPGI markets considering the recent prevalence of safeguard measures?
As regards HDG and PPGI exports, we face a quota obstacle in the European Union. Particularly for PPGI, the country-basis quota on Turkish products is intensifying the competition and also causing the market to close rapidly to Turkish exporters since the quota in question is exhausted quickly. A similar scenario is also observed for galvanized products. The EU’s new regulation for its quota system signals that an easing of the “already limited” quota is not possible. The EU has reduced its initial five percent annual increase to three percent and announced a limitation of 30 percent on the share of the global quota that any single exporting country can claim per quarter during the remaining duration of the measures. Briefly, considering the ever-increasing protectionism in the global market, we will have to face stronger competition in a shrinking market and confine ourselves to lower market shares if we fail to manufacture value-added products.
What are your goals and expectations for the rest of 2019?
Our goals are renewed every year. The iron and steel industry is one that is directly impacted by the trend of the global economy. Rapid falls or increases can be seen in demand and prices. We are taking precautionary measures for negative scenarios before they happen with the help of our team which is expert in its field and with the marketing surveys we carry out. We plan to direct 40 percent of production capacity to exports this year. Our target markets are European countries, Canada, the Middle East and Africa. We are planning to increase our sales to companies particularly producing white appliances, sandwich panels, barrels and also to those in the general manufacturing sector.