The company also intends to increase steel production from 2.5 to 3.5 million tons in the short term
Turkish integrated steel company Kardemir plans to invest US$1.5 billion (46.2 billion Turkish lira) over the next five years. The announcement was made by the company's chairman of the board Ismail Demir Daily Sabah reports .
Demir highlighted that they developed strategic plans as part of their vision to promote national production and the production of strategic products with high added value.
«Currently, our steel production is 2.5 million tons. Our objective is to increase this number to 3.5 million tons in a very short time”, he stated.
Furthermore, according to the CEO, Kardemir intends to double its production in areas of high added value within five years.
«Issues of added value and profitability will be our priority. Thus, our profitability will allow us to make new investments», stated Ismail Demir.
The Turkish steelmaker also plans to participate in new initiatives in the railway and transport sector, bringing competitive products such as rails and wheels to the market. According to Demir, the company wants to transfer a significant part of the energy consumption needed for the company's projects and ongoing operations to renewable sources, without the use of fossil fuels.
«The company, based on the principles of a healthy environment and efficient production, considers environmental sensitivity in its production and investment activities to be a fundamental principle. From 2006 until the end of 2023, it spent around US$160 million for these purposes”, said the CEO of Kardemir.
He added that this year the company allocated around US$40 million for environmental investments. Kardemir aims to reduce carbon emissions by 15% by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2053.
Stating that they intend to enter new markets, Demir also highlighted the company's objective of increasing its share in the Turkish market from 9% to 12%. Furthermore, the company's CEO said that Kardemir is interested in managing ports and railways and will participate in relevant tenders.
“We are also interested in managing mining companies in Turkey and abroad,” said the CEO.
As Compraço previously reported, last fall Kardemir general manager Necdet Utkanlar said the Turkish company aims to become a global producer. In 2022, the company broke the annual production record at its No. 5 blast furnace, melting 2.22 million tons of steel and producing 2.14 million tons of finished products.
