BURSA, Turkey — Turkish steelmakers will increasingly target value-added steel production as part of a new five-year plan set out by the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers Association.

The country has expanded rapidly to become the eighth-largest steel-producing nation in the world, up from 17th in 2000. But having become the regional hub for long products—and, to a certain extent, for flat products—Turkish producers should now focus on "becoming the production hub for value-added products in iron and steel," association chairman Bayram Yusuf Aslan said.

While investment in structural steels will continue, under the new five-year plan Turkey also will develop more capacity to make products it currently has to import, creating a steel industry that can meet all the country’s domestic needs. This means a push into more types of flat products, as well as stainless steels, according to the association.

A version of this article was first published by AMM sister publication Steel First.