Uğur Dalbeler appointed World Steel Association Chairman

Uğur Dalbeler, CEO of Çolakoğlu Metalurji A.Ş., has been elected as worldsteel Chairman for a one-year term.

In the new term, Thachat Viswanath Narendran, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Steel, and Abdulqader Almubarak, CEO of Saudi Iron and Steel Company (Hadeed), will serve as Vice-Chairmen. Mark Vassella, CEO and Managing Director of BlueScope Steel Limited, will take on the role of Chief Financial Officer.

Executive Board Members

The Board of Directors also appointed the worldsteel Executive Board for the 2025/2026 term.

The members for the new term are as follows:

  • Abdulqader Almubarak, CEO, Hadeed

  • In Hwa Chang, Chairman, POSCO Holdings

  • Uğur Dalbeler, CEO, Çolakoğlu Metalurji A.Ş.

  • Masayuki Hirose, President & CEO, JFE Steel Corporation

  • Hu Wangming, Chairman, China Baowu Steel Group

  • Tadashi Imai, President & COO, Nippon Steel Corporation

  • Sajjan Jindal, Chairman & Managing Director, JSW Steel Limited

  • André Bier Gerdau Johannpeter, Deputy Managing Director, Gerdau SA

  • Liu Jian, Chairman, HBIS Group Co., Ltd. (replacing Yu Yong)

  • Lakshmi N. Mittal, CEO, ArcelorMittal

  • Alexey A. Mordashov, Chairman (PAO), Severstal (non-executive member)

  • Thachat Viswanath Narendran, CEO & Managing Director, Tata Steel

  • Paolo Rocca, Chairman & CEO, Techint Group

  • Leon Topalian, President & CEO, Nucor Corporation

  • Hubert Zajicek, CEO, Steel Division & Board Member, voestalpine AG

  • Edwin Basson, Director General, worldsteel (Secretary)

New Members

The Board also accepted the following steel companies as regular members:

  • GPH Ispat Limited (Bangladesh) – represented by Salehin Musfique Sadaf

  • OneSteel Manufacturing Pty Ltd. (Australia) – represented by Sebastian Hams

And as an associate member:

  • Tenova SpA (Italy) – represented by Roberto Pancaldi

With this election, the Turkish steel industry is represented at the worldsteel Chairmanship for the first time.

Uğur Dalbeler also serves as Vice-Chairman of the Turkish Steel Exporters’ Association.

He previously chaired the International Rebar Producers and Exporters Association (IREPAS) from 2004 to 2014.

steelradar.com

Çolakoğlu focuses on AI-supported sustainable steelmaking projects

Large Turkish steelmaker Çolakoğlu Metalurji has focused on artificial intelligence-supported sustainable production projects while increasing its renewable energy investments, Operations Director Ozgur Ozsoy said.

According to a July 5 statement from Çolakoğlu, citing Ozsoy’s comments to local magazine ST industry’s July edition, the company has new projects to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by using AI-connected digital solutions and new renewable energy investments.

“We have reached the final stage in our AI-supported process control project in our meltshop, which will ensure process stability in production,” Ozsoy said.

Çolakoğlu had achieved a heat size of 298.2 mt at its new vacuum degassing plant, Ozsoy said, adding that it has also reached a carbon content of 5 parts per million (ppm) after decarburization, a world record.

He did not, however, provide the company’s current carbon emission levels.

Çolakoğlu is currently able to produce special steels like IF grades, ULC grades and stainless steel at its plant.

Colakoglu commissioned its second reheating furnace in June to increase its hot-rolling capacity and meet demand more effectively.

The company currently has a bar output capacity of 1 million mt/year and an HRC production capacity of 4.5 million mt/year.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Turkish domestic HRC at $585/mt EXW on June 28, down 18.2% since the start of 2024.


spglobal.com