Turkey’s Kocaer becomes Europe’s first steel profile hot-dip galvanizing factory

Turkish merchant bar and sections producer Kocaer Celik has built a 100,000 mt/year hot-dip galvanizing line to increase its structural steel output, the company said Oct. 13, adding it was the first such facility in Europe.

Kocaer, which is focusing more on value-added and green steel production, currently has a combined steel production capacity of 800,000 mt/year at its three Turkish mills producing merchant bars, beams, channels and sections.

Value-added steel products currently make up 40% of the company’s total steel production, with Kocaer saying it aimed to raise that to 50% by the end of 2022 and to 75% in 2024.

It exports 84% of its steel output and has a steel trading company in the UK called Kocaer Steel UK.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Turkish exported rebar at $695/mt FOB on Oct. 12, having hit a 2022 high of $970/mt FOB on March 24, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

— Cenk Can