Turkey's Erdemir saw its consolidated finished product sales inch down -0.3% to 8.75 million tonnes in 2016. Lower flat steel sales at home last year offset the increase in exports of flats and longs, Kallanish notes from the integrated steelmaker's activity report.

Erdemir's consolidated full-year 2016 flats sales slipped to 7.16mt from 7.23mt a year earlier, including a -0.4% decline in domestic sales to 6.3mt. Total longs sales increased 2.6% to 1.59mt, with domestic longs sales remaining unchanged at 1.4mt.

The steelmaker exported 889,000t of flats to 39 countries and 197,000t of longs to 14 countries last year. Exports thus accounted for 12% of its total sales volume. Erdemir’s 2015 consolidated exports accounted for 9% of the group’s total sales and consisted of 688,000t of flats shipped to 42 countries and 162,000t of longs delivered to eight countries.

The group's consolidated production of flats fell -4.5% y-o-y to 7.07mt in 2016, including 5.29mt of hot-rolled and 1.78mt of cold-rolled flats. Longs production climbed 0.6% to 1.57mt.

Consolidated full-year crude steel output of Erdemir rose 2.9% y-o-y to 9.2mt, accounting for 28% of all crude steel production in Turkey for 2016. Output at the Eregli plant declined -4.7% to 3.60mt but production at Iskenderun increased 8.4% to 5.58mt. 

The group’s liquid steel capacity utilisation rate shrank to 97% from 100% a year earlier, but was higher than the world average, according to Erdemir.

Capital expenditures totaled $162 million in 2016, and $595m of capex is planned for 2017. Construction activities at Erdemir's second galvanizing line continue, with commissioning slated for the second half of 2018.

The steelmaker's consolidated 2016 revenue fell by -2.3% on-year to TRY 11.64 billion ($3.13 billion), but net profit rose to TRY 1.57 billion from TRY 1.16 billion.