Talking to Turkish daily Dunya, Yıldızlar Yatırım Holding board member Hakkı Yıldız said that company subsidiary Yıldız Demir Çelik is aiming to be among the top three firms in the Turkish steel industry, adding that its steel plant has commenced production and the first orders have already been delivered.
Mr. Yıldız pointed out that in 2017 Turkey imported 9 million mt of flat steel products, while exporting 4.3 million mt, resulting in a trade deficit of 4.7 million mt. He went on to say that Yıldız Demir Çelik has an annual production capacity of 1.2 million mt of cold rolled pickled and cold rolled and galvanized steel products. This still leaves a 3 million mt trade deficit in flat steel. He said that this was what encouraged them to step into the steel business.
Stating that they will not be producing hot rolled products in the first phase, Mr. Yıldız said that it is almost inevitable that they will turn to integrated production, considering that accessing raw material, i.e., hot rolled coil, is difficult in the flat steel industry.
According to Dunya, Yıldız Demir Çelik has completed an investment of $250 million up to now, and with the new phase the investment will reach $350 million.