Posted on 17 Oct 2025
Steel prices are expected to increase in Europe in the coming years, not due to higher demand, but from the introduction of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in 2026 and changes to the EU tariffs, delegates heard at the Kallanish Global Flat Steel conference in Istanbul on 16 October.
Stanislav Zinchenko, ceo of GMK Center, said: “We can expect new rounds of increases every month in Europe, starting from next year.”
“The European automotive sector is still in good position and construction is also in better shape. In 2026, we expect real steel consumption growth around 2% on-year due to stable demand from market and will recover from losses this year,” he added.
According to him, in Europe we could see the start of a new “golden era” for steelmakers. “However, like always, a lot of things depends [on] European bureaucracy and governments policies locally. I think the best place to invest now is Europe.”
Fellow panellist Metin Taifin Iseri, chairman of Colakoglu Metalurji, however, expects uneasy times in the near future.
“This was difficult year for the flat steel market and the next one will be even more difficult,” he said. “Turkish steelmakers have found ways to survive despite higher production costs and exports restrictions are increasing all the time.”
“The US market has always been different, because hot rolled coil prices are not getting high values there and is closed for Turkey with new restriction measures,” noted the general manager of Yildiz Demir Celik, Selcuk Yilmaz. “There is a high supply of flat products to Turkey, but we have less opportunities to export commodities to the European market as well. North Africa is also closed for Turkish steelmakers and there is limited market for them in the United Kingdom.”
Production costs and scrap prices are very high in Turkey which impacts the ability to utilise steel capacities at the mills, he adds.
Source:Kallanish
