The chairperson of the board of directors of Tosyalı Holding, one of the largest Turkish steel and iron producers, said Thursday they aimed to make pipe shipments from Türkiye to Europe with the factory they recently acquired in Spain, highlighting the company’s recent investments.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), during the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Switzerland’s Davos, Fuat Tosyalı expressed the company’s interest in being at the center of discussions on global warming, preventive measures and sectors affecting the warming.
He also highlighted the discussions about the rise in interest rates worldwide to control inflation, emphasizing a slowdown in demand after interest rate hikes in the U.S. and Europe.
Tosyalı meanwhile anticipated a decline in inflation in Türkiye as well, while he praised President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's support for the economy and the government's resolute implementation of decisions, even in the face of high interest rates.
"I think the decisions, implementation and coordination give a lot of confidence," he said, referring to the shift in policymaking in Türkiye following last year's elections.
"As soon as we took over the factory in Spain, we started working on increasing its capacity. It will be one of our most important production bases in Europe," Tosyalı told AA.
In line with its global growth strategy, Tosyalı Holding has acquired Baika Steel Tubular System (STS), Spain’s leading steel pipeline manufacturer, according to the company’s statement earlier this month.
Following investments in Algeria, Senegal and Angola, the steelmaker has acquired the STS plant to meet the rising demand in Europe with the increasing new hydrogen distribution networks.
The firm aims to increase the capacity of the facility to 240,000 tons per year with the new investments it will make in STS, which has an annual production capacity of 150,000 tons of spiral pipes.
Regarding their recent industrial investments in Iskenderun, Tosyalı highlighted the completion of a steel plant with a capacity of 4 million tons per annum.
"We have just completed our flat steel facility with a capacity of 4 million tons per year and our country's first quantum furnace with the lowest energy consumption and one of our most important investments on the road to green steel. This year, we will continue our investments focused on energy," he explained.
"We currently have the world's largest rooftop power plant (solar energy)."
Elaborating on their focus on energy-related investments Tosyalı said, "We (currently) produce 240 megawatts (MW) through solar energy, and we intend to increase it tenfold to 2.5 gigawatts (GW). While we will use the energy we obtain from there in steel production, we will also use it in hydrogen generation."
Like this, he said they aimed to become a company that consumes entirely renewable energy and produces green steel.
Tosyalı concluded by highlighting their acquisition of the Baika Steel Tubular System (STS) factory, emphasizing its strategic importance for pipe shipments to Europe, Romania, Italy and the Balkans, as well as for production and supply to Western Europe.