[Market Insight] Turkish Earthquake Impacts on Local Steel Mills

On February 6, 2023, at 04:17 local time, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck the Pazarcık area of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey. After the first earthquake, a total of 243 aftershocks occurred, the largest of which was a 7.6 magnitude earthquake centered in Elbistan. Local people were said to have experienced strong shaking in the surrounding provinces, especially in Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Malatya, and Adana. According to the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD), by local time Feb. 6, 21:15, the earthquake had killed 1651 people and injured 11,119 in the Turkish provinces of Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Adana, Adıyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis and Malatya.

Although there are no steel mills in Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of the earthquake, there are 8 and 4 steel mills in Hatay and Osmaniye provinces, respectively, where the tremors were still significant earthquakes and many people lost their lives.

Among them, the most affected may be İSDEMİR, located in the İskenderun district of Hatay province, which is less than one hundred kilometers from the epicenter. According to its official website, one of the OYAK Mining Metallurgy companies, İSDEMİR is Turkey’s third oldest integrated iron and steel plant by its establishment date and the largest by its long product manufacturing capacity. İSDEMİR is Turkey's only integrated plant that produces long and flat products with a hot rolling capacity of 3.5 million tons/year commissioned in 2008.

İSDEMİR was established on 3 October 1970 by the Mediterranean coast in the south of Turkey, in Payas (Yakacık), 17 km to İskenderun. At the time, the plant was founded covering on a total area of 16.75 million m2, including social facilities (plant’s area: 6.8 million m2). Put into use Commissioned in 1975 with a steel bloom production capacity of 1.1 million tons/year, İSDEMİR’s production capacity was increased with a plant extension to 2.2 million tons/year as of 1985. Founded to produce long products such as pig iron, blooms, billets, and reinforcing bars at international standards, İSDEMİR uses coke – sinter – blast furnace – steelworks – continuous casting and hot rolling processes for production. Products are sold to the national market and exported all over the world, primarily to Southern Europe, and Middle Eastern countries and the rest of the world.

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