Republic of Turkey Ministry of Economy

Turkey attaches great importance to the Asia-Pacific region which is home to one third of all global manufacturing activities. With the rising awareness of the shift in economic activity towards the region, Turkey put into implementation “the Strategy for Improving Trade and Economic Activities with the Asian-Pacific Countries” in 2005.

The total trade volume between Turkey and the region in 2004 was around USD 17 billion. This amount rose over USD 44 billion, marking a 161% increase over the period.

Along with the volume of trade with the region, the share of Asia-Pacific region countries in Turkey’s total foreign trade rose as well. This share increased to 5,7% in 2010 from 3,3% in 2005.

Increasing commercial relations with the region has been associated with significant trade deficit figures for Turkey. The total trade deficit for the first eleven months of 2011 was around USD 40 billion and constitutes over 40% of Turkey’s overall foreign trade deficit.

News

POSCO building stainless steel plant in Turkey

POSCO broke ground for its $350 million cold-rolled stainless steel plant in Izmit, Turkey as part of its efforts to become a leading stainless steel maker in the region.

Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Nihat Ergun and POSCO Chairman Chung Joon-yang was at the groundbreaking ceremony for the company’s construction of a stainless steel plant in Izmit, Turkey on 28 September 2011. The plant, which is scheduled to be completed in April 2013, will have an annual capacity of 200,000 tons.

It is the steel giant’s second investment in Turkey, following the launch of its POSCO-Turkey Nilufer Processing Center (TNPC), a comprehensive auto steel processing center, in Bursa Province last year.

With the Turkey facility, POSCO expects to play a leading role in the Eurasian country’s domestic stainless market, which relies entirely on imports 210,000 tons in 2009 and 326,000 tons in 2010 and capitalize on Turkey’s geographic advantage to take on demands in neighboring areas including the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

In addition, Turkey, along with Italy and Germany, is one of the top three home appliance manufacturers in Europe, so there is strong demand for high-end stainless steel.

Turkey and its neighboring nations are expected to lack a supply of stainless steel in 2015, with supply likely to reach 400,000 tons, about 1 million tons short of demand.

This groundbreaking comes as POSCO’s aggressive push for value-added stainless steel is on full display.

Last week, POSCO purchased shares of Southeast Asia’s largest stainless steel producer, Thainox Stainless, to boost its stake to 75 percent from 15 percent, while earlier this year, it expanded the capacity of its Chinese stainless steel joint venture, Zhangjiagang Pohang Stainless Steel (ZPSS), from 800,000 to 1 million tons per year.

Source: The Korean Times