TURKISH AND IRANIAN STEEL INDUSTRIES JOIN FORCES

Turkish steel industry reinforces its alliance with Iran with new areas of cooperation. Turkish Steel Exporters' Association organized a visit to Iran between November 15 and 17 with a delegation of 21 Turkish steel companies. The visit joined leading representatives of Turkish and Iranian steel industries and paved the way for new areas of cooperation and investments. The agenda of the meetings was marked with cooperation against aggressive export policies of China.

Turkish-Iranian trade relations usher in a new era with the lifting of embargoes and sanctions.  With a vision to building a steel bridge between the two countries, Turkish Steel Exporters' Association organized a trade and friendship visit to Iran with 27 representatives of 21 companies.  The meetings were marked by the desire to combine rich natural resources of Iran and the experience of Turkish steel manufacturers, with significant steps taken towards new investments and new cooperation. Another item of the agenda during the visit was China. The emphasis was on joint action against China with applies an aggressive policy detrimental to global steel market. Representatives of fellow countries pointed out to the need of taking joint action against Chinese policy and gave messages regarding consolidation between two sister countries.

The program started off with a visit to the 12th Metallurgy Exposition METAFO in Tehran. Namık Ekinci, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Turkish Exporters' Association and officials from the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Turkey carried out official visits to IMIDRO (Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development & Renovation); Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture; Iranian Steel Producers Association and Trade Promotion Organization of Iran. The meetings resulted in agreements over joint investments with specifications to boost trade between the countries.

At the end of the visit, 600 bilateral business meetings were held between the representatives of leading Turkish steel companies and approximately 50 Iranian companies operating within the steel industry. Both sides were quite pleased with the meetings.

Namık Ekinci, Chairman of Turkish Steel Exporters’ Association, commented on the meetings after the visit as follows: “The history of our cooperation with Iran goes back to 350 years ago. We have never had a political or economic conflict so far. Our commercial ties have never been lost despite certain periods of interruption due to the international conjuncture. Today, a new period lies ahead, and we would like to build a bridge of steel between the two countries. Turkish steel industry ranks 8th in the world and 2nd in Europe in terms of manufacturing. We rank 8th in terms of total exports, and export our products to 200 countries. We closely follow every technological development related to our industry, adopting them for the manufacturing process. Our products have been utilized in many major projects so far. Of course, Iran has significant achievements in terms of steel industry, too. We hoped to overcome our individual shortcomings through common strengths as we organized this delegation visit. Although Iran does not need rebar in terms of quantity, we believe they need Turkey’s experience. We would like to provide those products which Iran needs but does not produce. We intend to establish an industrial cooperation alongside the commercial cooperation with Iran. We have emphasized this intention during all meetings we had as part of the visit. We have taken very important steps during both official and B2B meetings, and both sides are pleased with the visit. We will work together with relevant government agencies to delineate the aspects required for such a cooperation. We believe our cooperative efforts will be beneficial for both countries in the future.”