Belgium Steel Trade Delegation 2023: 24 Firms Meet in Antwerp

When and Where Is the Belgium Steel Trade Delegation Held?

The Belgium Steel Trade Delegation is being organized under the leadership of the Steel Exporters’ Association (ÇİB) on 14-16 June 2023. Aiming to grow the trade volume between the two countries and to build new partnerships, the event brings together 36 representatives from 24 firms.

The Turkish delegation holds one-on-one business meetings with Belgian and Dutch importers on Thursday, 15 June, from 10:00 to 18:00 at the Hilton Antwerp Old Town Hotel. Antwerp was not chosen by chance: home to Europe’s second-largest port, the city acts as a natural gateway that connects Belgium and the Netherlands (Benelux) to Turkish steel over a single logistics corridor.

Turkey–Belgium Metal Trade: Past to Present

The roots of metal and steel trade between Turkey and Belgium are intertwined with the industrialization stories of both economies. Belgium has historically been one of Europe’s oldest centers of iron and steel production, while Turkey is a fresh force that has become a global steel player over the past two decades.

The most important framework shaping this relationship today is the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Agreement, which entered into force in 1996. Thanks to this agreement, our iron and steel products can enter EU member Belgium without customs duties. This duty-free access has always made Belgium — and the broad Western European market behind it — attractive for Turkish steel producers.

Beyond being a large end-consumer in its own right, Belgium is a distribution and re-export hub. A significant portion of the Turkish steel arriving at the Port of Antwerp is then dispatched to neighboring markets such as the Netherlands, Germany, and France. For this reason, sales to Belgium serve as a showcase that opens onto Benelux and beyond. The Belgium Steel Trade Delegation aims precisely to consolidate its place in this showcase.

International Steel Landscape: The 2022–2023 Picture

To understand the period in which the delegation is held, one must read the global picture. 2021 was a record year for the Turkish steel sector: production reached an all-time high, and exports made a significant leap in value terms. From the second half of 2022, however, the global winds turned.

The energy crisis triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war, recession expectations in the US and the European Union, rising input costs, and dumped sales from countries such as China, India, and Iran weakened demand in Turkish steel’s core markets. As a result, Turkey closed 2022 with steel exports down 17.7% in volume to 19.6 million tons and down 5.3% in value to USD 21.1 billion.

Energy Costs Strain Competitiveness

One of the most critical items on the agenda of the Belgium Steel Trade Delegation is energy cost. At the start of 2023, the average electricity price per megawatt-hour in Turkey jumped from EUR 75 to EUR 168 compared with a year earlier. Over the same period, this figure was around EUR 111 in Germany, EUR 123 in France, and EUR 122 in Belgium. Such a sharp rise in the share of energy within total costs directly affects Turkish producers’ ability to compete with other major exporters in the global market.

This picture increases the importance of markets like Belgium: open to value-added products, with strong payment discipline and logistical proximity. As freight and competitive pressure rise in distant geographies, duty-free and nearby markets within the EU become strategic.

Sector Outlook for Belgium

2022 was a year in which Turkey’s steel exports to the European Union fell by roughly 31% in tonnage. This contraction was felt especially sharply in Belgium; Turkey’s steel exports to Belgium dropped by around 60% in 2022. In the same year, exports to Spain fell 66% and to Italy 30%. This decline was related less to the competitiveness of the product than to Europe’s energy crisis and demand stagnation.

By contrast, when all sectors are considered together, Turkey’s total exports to Belgium continued to grow in 2022. This shows that the potential in the Belgian market is intact; the real task is to regain the momentum lost in steel. This is exactly where the Belgium Steel Trade Delegation aims to recover that momentum — through face-to-face meetings, new importer connections, and direct market contact.

Another cyclical factor is the earthquakes of 6 February 2023. İskenderun and its surroundings host a significant share of Turkey’s steel production. The temporary disruptions to production and port operations in the region after the earthquake were among the factors that complicated export planning in the first half of 2023. Under these conditions, diversifying contacts in alternative markets became even more valuable for the sector.

Turkey’s Steel Export–Import Data by Year

The tables below summarize the recent trajectory of the Turkish steel sector demographically. They help explain why the Belgium Steel Trade Delegation is strategic in this particular period.

Turkey crude steel production (million tons)

Year	Crude steel production	Annual change
2018	37.3	–
2019	33.7	↓
2020	35.8	↑ 6.1%
2021	40.4 (record)	↑ 12.7%
2022	35.1	↓ 12.9%

Turkey steel product exports (volume and value)

Year	Exports (million tons)	Exports (USD billion)	Note
2020	~20.3	~12.7	Pandemic effect
2021	23.9	22.4	Record year (value +77.4%)
2022	19.6	21.1	Volume −17.7%

Foreign trade balance (steel): In 2022, Turkey’s steel imports reached 14.8 million tons / USD 15.6 billion. As a result, steel foreign trade — which ran a surplus in 2021 — turned into a deficit of roughly USD 1.7 billion in 2022. Dumped imports originating from China, India, Iran, and Russia were decisive in the widening of this deficit.

The picture the figures reveal is clear: Turkey’s production capacity and export infrastructure are strong; the real need is to meet the right buyer in the right markets. The Belgium Steel Trade Delegation provides that meeting on an institutional footing.

Conclusion

The Belgium Steel Trade Delegation represents a move made in the right market at the right time, in a period when the global environment is straining the Turkish steel sector. Amid the pressure of energy costs, demand stagnation in the EU, and rising protectionism, Belgium — a nearby, duty-free, and logistically advantageous market — is coming to the fore again for Turkish exporters.

The one-on-one contacts established in Antwerp on 14-16 June 2023 carry the potential to turn into new orders in the short term and into lasting partnerships in the long term. For a sector that wants to carry the deep-rooted commercial bond between the two countries into the future, the Belgium Steel Trade Delegation means both an opportunity and a new beginning.