At the second session of the Steel Orbis Turkish Steel Market Conference held in Istanbul on November 13th 2009, Mr Ufuk Leflef president of the Stainless Steel Development Association gave a presentation during which he touched upon the advantages of stainless steel usage and also discussed stainless steel industry in Turkey.

Underlining that stainless steel is produced for long-term usage, Mr Leflef reminded his listeners that stainless steel products are 90% recyclable and thus possess long lasting value.

He said that Turkey does not itself produce stainless steel but meets its needs for stainless steel products via imports. In 2008, Turkey imported 238,000 tonnes of stainless steel products.

Mr Ufuk Leflef went on to remark that in European countries the annual stainless steel consumption per capita is in the range of 12 kilograms to 14 kilograms while in Turkey the figure is less than 4 kilograms.

He said that the establishment of stainless steel capacity would require a large amount of investment. It is still too early for such an investment in Turkey. Once decided, stainless steel capacities should be fully integrated.

Furthermore he stated that Turkey should also focus on the production of ferrochrome, which is an important raw material for stainless steel production.

(Sourced from Steelorbis.com)