Tolga Yalgı: Polarization in global markets makes cost-competitiveness more challenging
Speaking at the EUROMETAL Steel Day & YISAD Flat Steel Conference held at Istanbul Marriott Hotel Asia on Tuesday, April 8, in cooperation with SteelOrbis, Tolga Yalgı, CEO of Turkish steel producer Tatmetal, informed participants about the company’s investments and shared his opinions regarding global market developments.
Stating that Tatmetal is continuing its strategic growth in domestic and foreign markets and its investments in technology, Mr. Yalgı said that they shipped nearly one million metric tons of coated products to foreign markets in 2024.
He also stated that, with the commissioning of new cold rolling and galvanizing lines with an annual capacity of 1.5 million metric tons, they are now able to produce annealed and coated products in different sizes.
“With this investment, we are now able to produce coated products with thicknesses of 0.24 mm to 4 mm and widths of 800 mm to 1,650 mm with high quality.
Thus, we can provide higher standards and faster service to the white goods and automotive sectors,” he said. On the other hand, he stated that they also have serious investments in the energy sector. “11 of our wind turbines have started generating energy.
When they are fully operational, our plant will have an installed capacity of 66 megawatts and will produce 200 million kilowatt/hours of energy per year.
The solar power plant at our factory will also be completed this year and we will be producing an additional 180 million kilowatt/hours of electricity per year, meeting all our needs with green energy. We also expect our new 50-megawatt wind power plant to be commissioned at the beginning of 2026,” he said.
The Tatmetal CEO also discussed the risks, uncertainties and recent developments in the global market. He said that the new import taxes announced by the US, and the restrictions imposed by the EU on the origin of raw materials being processed, besides the current antidumping and quota practices, will create serious difficulties in terms of export competitiveness.
“The reshaping of global commercial, military, and political alliances brings new polarizations. These polarizations also cause changes in the availability and prices of raw materials. Accordingly, it becomes difficult to compete,” he said.
He also underlined that the starting point of these difficulties may have resulted from China, noted that the country has transformed from a country that produces low-priced products with its industrialization, cheap labor costs, state support and incentives into a global actor that challenges the global system, producing advanced technology.
Referring to the EU’s moves in the global market, Yalgı said, “Despite the EU imposing additional taxes on certain products imported from China, trade between the EU and China has increased continuously in the past 10 years.
The EU’s harsh protectionist measures against China’s breakthrough in the electric vehicle sector and China’s retaliation against the EU on certain products have marked the beginning of new trade relations between the two markets.
These developments are important for Turkey, which exports to the EU and imports the most from China.”
