Erdemir expects 2020 sales volume to hit 8.5 million mt

Turkey’s largest integrated steelmaker, Erdemir Group, is expecting its sales volume to hit 8.5 million mt this year, 2.5% higher year on year, according to the company’s first half year financial results presentation.

The company’s is expecting to sell 7.4 million mt of flat-rolled steel products in 2020, up from 7.2 million mt sold in 2019, while its long steel product sales are expected to remain flat at 1.1 million mt.

Erdemir is also expecting its EBITDA margin to be realized at 16-18% in 2020, down from 20.1% registered in the previous year.

Erdemir Group sold 3.5 million mt of flat-rolled steel in the first half of 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. While the group’s flat steel sales to the domestic market were down by 4% on year at 2.8 million mt, its total long product sales to the domestic market rose by 6% on year to 419,000 mt.

The company also sold 721,000 mt of steel to export markets in H1, down from 1.01 million mt sold in the same period the previous year, it said.

Erdemir Group is planning to raise its capacity further with new investments in the coming years, including two new blast furnaces at its Eregli and Iskenderun works.

Erdemir produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled and galvanized coils, plate and tinplate, while its Iskenedrun works, Isdemir, produces billet, wire rod and hot-rolled coils with a combined crude steel production capacity of 9.1 million mt/year.

— Cenk Can