The European Commission's proposal to grant Turkey, among other partners, the status of a reliable partner under the "Made in the EU" mandate for various goods, including electric vehicles, bodes well for Turkey's position in future EU steel trade negotiations. This is the opinion of Ugur Dalbeler, Chairman of worldsteel and Vice President of the Turkish Steel Exporters Association.
As announced by the Commission during the presentation of the Industrial Acceleration Act last week, the local content requirement will apply to aluminum, cement, electric vehicles and their components, batteries, battery energy storage systems (BESS), solar photovoltaic cells, heat pumps, wind, electrolyzers and nuclear technologies. This will not apply to steel, as the upcoming steel trade regime, which is due to take effect from July, is considered sufficient to limit imports.
Currently, Turkey is still subject to EU protective quotas, and the long-term future of these measures remains uncertain, says Dalbeler, also executive director of Colakoglu Metalurji, in an interview with Kallanish
He argues that Turkey should be evaluated differently within the EU due to its deep economic integration with the bloc through the EU-Turkey Customs Union and earlier agreements related to European coal and steel cooperation structures. Industry representatives are currently working with national authorities and seeking further engagement with the European Commission to advance discussions on a differentiated approach.
Dahlbeler also expresses concern about how the new EU carbon arrangements assess steel production in Turkey. The default emission values assigned to Turkey are significantly higher than those applied in countries such as Japan or South Korea. This is despite the fact that approximately 75% of steel production in Turkey is based on the use of scrap feed technology in electric arc furnaces, which is widely known as a low-emission production method.
Closer cooperation between the EU and Turkey could contribute to achieving Europe's decarbonization goals. While the EU has limited capacities for processing flat rolled products from scrap, there are several enterprises in Turkey capable of producing flat rolled products using EDP technology. Manufacturers such as Colakoglu, Tosyalı, and Habaş operate such facilities, although trade barriers and policy uncertainty often limit their ability to fully utilize production facilities.
Dahlbeler notes that expectations,
