The Metal Expo & SteelOrbis Conference in Istanbul explored the steel industry's current state, challenges, and future expectations.
The Metal Expo & SteelOrbis Steel Transformation Conference brought the current state and future expectations of the industry to the forefront.
One of the most important international gatherings of the iron and steel industry, Metal Expo took place this year from September 16 to 18 at the Istanbul Fair Center. The fair opened its doors to visitors with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held in the main foyer area on September 16, moderated by SteelOrbis General Manager Murat Eryılmaz during the session where opening speeches were made.
Metal Expo 2026 opened its doors.
On September 17-18, the Steel Transformation Conference, organized in collaboration with Metal Expo 2026 and SteelOrbis, evaluated the current state of the industry, the challenges it faces, and future expectations.
On the first day of the conference, following the opening speech, Dursun Baş, Coordinator of the Turkey Steel Sector's Decarbonization Project at the Istanbul Policy Center, suggested that a multi-actor responsibility approach should be developed for the transformation of the Turkish steel sector. He emphasized that national standards should be established for low-carbon steel and that emission data should be made publicly available. Baş highlighted that focusing solely on protective measures, tax reductions, and labor costs will not take the sector to the desired point under new competitive conditions. He stressed the need for sectoral planning, bringing together crude steel producers with final product manufacturers and consumers, transforming the electricity production structure, and ensuring fair use of transformation financing.
Following Baş, Senior Analyst Dr. Amir Aligholizadeh compared the steel sectors of Iran and Turkey in his presentation, noting that Iran's iron ore reserves and direct reduced iron-electric arc furnace production route stand out as strengths. In contrast, Turkey's advantages include access to scrap-based EAF and export markets. Aligholizadeh also pointed out that Turkey faces higher energy costs and is significantly dependent on imported raw materials.
In the afternoon session, SteelOrbis analysts provided information about recent developments in the markets with presentations titled 'Changing Dynamics of Turkey's Scrap and Steel Markets,' 'Transformation and New Balances in European Steel Markets,' and 'The Pulse of Asian Steel Markets: Production, Demand, and Trade,' while SteelOrbis's monthly research reports were also introduced.
On the last day of the conference, during the panel titled 'Is Turkey Ready for Stainless Steel Production? How should the stainless steel ecosystem strategy be designed from liquid steel to final product?' moderated by PASİD Secretary General Hanife Videberg, Kemal Yalgın, CTO of Nickel Stainless, stated that approximately 800,000 mt of stainless steel is imported annually. He noted that a facility with a capacity between 600,000 mt and 1 million mt could market 75-80% of its production in the domestic market. Barış Yılmaz, General Manager of Bahru Stainless Turkey and MENA, indicated that a facility to be established with an investment of approximately $1.2 billion could recover its investment amount in eight years, forecasting a nominal capacity of 800,000 mt and a real production of 600,000 mt for the facility. At the end of the panel, Ömer Alpay Akdeniz, owner of Elit Consulting, provided information about the company's services and expressed his belief that incentives could be obtained for an integrated stainless steel facility.
In his presentation evaluating the current conditions of steel service centers, Tolga Kısacıkoğlu, Chairman of the Board of Galva Metal, pointed out that costs have increased by 2.5 times, emphasizing the dilemma between cost increases and customer demands. Kısacıkoğlu noted that while production costs are rising, customers continue to pressure for price reductions, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the desired quality of human resources despite rising labor costs.
In the final session, following a presentation by SteelOrbis Senior E-Marketplace Operations Specialist Zeynep Türksever about the SteelOrbis Marketplace, Aytekin Şahin, IT Manager of Galva Metal A.Ş., discussed e-commerce and Galva Metal's digital solutions in his presentation titled 'From Digital Transformation to New Generation Trade.'
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
