History of Erdemir Group 
The Erdemir Group is a leading steelmaking business. In 2022 the company produced around 7.8 million tonnes of crude steel, making it the 48th largest steelmaker in the world.
The timeline below covers the history of the Group.
- 1954: Discussion commences on need to establish a national iron and steel industry in Turkey.
- 1956: Founders' Agreement signed for establishment of flat-rolled production plant.
- 1960: Excavation work and plant construction works begin, taking 42 months to complete.
- 1965: Turkish production of flat-rolled steel commences on 15 May 1965.
- 1970: Works established to produce long steel products at İskenderun.
- 1978: Wire rod mill in İskenderun begins operations with 80 mm billets.
- 1986: Trading of Erdemir stock commences, on establishment of Istanbul Stock Exchange.
- 1995: Long product works separated from the Turkish Iron and Steel Works.
- 1998: Black Sea Port of Erdemir commissioned in September 1998.
- 1999: Turkish privatisation administration contemplates privatisation of İsdemir.
- 2001: Erenco project management and consultancy firm established as a subsidiary.
- 2001: Ersem service centre starts operations in Gebze (capacity of 150 kt/yr).
- 2002: İsdemir is incorporated into the Erdemir Group on 1 February 2002.
- 2004: Erdemir acquires Maden iron ore mining operations.
- 2005: Privatisation of Erdemir Group. Turkish Army Pension Fund is winning bidder.
- 2008: İskenderun plant begins production of flat rolled steel.
- 2009: In discussions about sale of 9% ownership stake in Borcelik.
- 2012: Erdemir commences US$700m iron ore project in Malatya.
- 2013: ArcelorMittal sells US$268m partial stake in Erdemir.
- 2014: Erdemir opens first R&D Centre for the Turkish steel industry.
- 2018: İsdemir commences air separation unit joint venture with Linde Group.
- 2019: OYAK announces US$1bn investment plan at Ereğli & İskenderun.
- 2019: Rumours suggest Erdemir planned takeover of bankrupt British Steel.
- 2020: OYAK starts negotiations with Yildiz Holding to buy Kümas Manyezit Sanayi AS.
- 2021: Acquires Turkey-based magnesite ore producer Kümas Manyezit for US$340m.
- 2021: 1.2 Mt/yr vacuum degassing plant to be commissioned at İskenderun in April 2021.
- 2021: New 2.8 Mt/yr BF#1 project to be commissioned at İsdemir in May 2021.
- 2022: 4th coke battery to be commissioned at Ereğli Works in April 2022.
- 2023: ArcelorMittal ownership stake in Erdemir Group falls to under 5%.
- 2024: Announces US$3.2bn of investments to attain 25% cut in emissions by 2030.
- 2025: Signals US$825m of investments in 2025 for green steel goals.
- 2026: Capacity utilisation reaches 95% in Q2 as sales pivot back to Turkish domestic market.
Notes
- 1935: Etibank was set up to make use of Turkey's mineral resources. It was intended that Etibank would produce metals, industrial raw materials and energy for Turkish industry, and also perform banking activities to raise capital for investment.
- 1938: Etibank started its iron ore mining activities when it first extracted iron ore in Divriği. Iron ore mining was later transferred to the Turkish Iron and Steel Enterprise in 1955, with coal mining being transferred to the Turkish Coal Enterprise in 1957. The Divriği iron ore operation later became known as Maden, and was transferred to Erdemir ownership in 2004.
- 1965: At start-up, production capacity amounted to just 0.5 million tonnes of crude steel and 0.4 million tonnes of flat-rolled steel.
- 1970: Initial design stage for the İskenderun plant envisaged a facility with an annual capacity of 1.1 Mt of cast blooms and associated long product rolling mills.
- 1995: The spun-out long product business was later transformed into a joint-stock company renamed İsdemir (İskenderun Demir ve Çelik A.S.).
- 1998: The new Port of Erdemir was owned by the Turkish State Coal Mining Company. The port catered to the commercial requirements of Erdemir but also operated a number of military facilities.
- 1999: These deliberations about the privatisation of Turkey's steel assets – undertaken in February 1999 – also extended to special steels producer Asil Çelik – with both privatisations intended to take place after the elections in April 1999. In the event, İsdemir ownership was transferred to Erdemir, and the Erdemir Group was privatised as a whole in 2005. Asil Çelik was itself sold to the Diler Group in the year 2000.
- 2001: Ersem is otherwise known as Erdemir Çelik Servis Merkezi San ve Tic A.Ş.
- 2002: Erdemir purchased the İskenderun works from the Privatisation Administration in February 2002.
- 2004: Maden operated under the name Demir Madenleri Isletmesi since its establishment in ~1940, running nine iron ore mines and one manganese ore mine. On transfer to Erdemir, the business was renamed Erdemir Madencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.
- 2005: The Turkish armed forces pension fund OYAK made the highest bid for a 46.1% equity stake in Erdemir. The fund, which provides pension benefits to 200,000 serving officers and 25,000 pensioners, bid US$2.77bn for the stake. Among the other bidders were Netherlands-based Mittal Steel, the world’s biggest steelmaker, and Luxembourg-based Arcelor, the second largest.
- 2009: At the time, Borcelik was a Turkish flat-rolled steel producer, also owned by ArcelorMittal and Istanbul-based Borusan Holding.
- 2012: The purpose of this project was to tap new iron ore reserves estimated at ~1 billion tonnes in the central province of Malatya. This is because other reserves to the north of Malatya would be depleted by 2017.
- 2013: Immediately before this sale, ArcelorMittal owned ~655 million shares in Erdemir, representing approximately 18.7% of the firm's share capital. Following completion of the sale, ArcelorMittal held approximately 12.08% of the shares. Note that ArcelorMittal's ownership of Erdemir's equity peaked at 24.9% in June 2008 since which time the firm had gradually been reducing its involvement in ownership of the business.
- 2018: New İsdemir air separation unit is designed to generate 1,700 tonnes of oxygen and nitrogen per day.
- 2019: According to press reports, the OYAK US$1bn investment plan was said to include investment in coke batteries; investment in a sinter production plant; investment in a new blast furnace; port modernisation; as well as modernisation of Erdemir's auto steel production lines to Industry 4.0 standards.
- 2019: British Steel went into administration in May 2019. Its new owner emerged as Jingye of China.
- 2020: Kümas Magnesite has close to 20% of the world's magnesite ore and also produces refractory products mainly used in the iron, steel and cement industries. The mine was acquired by Yildiz in 2012. Kümas Manyezit itself was established in 1972 in Kutahya.
- 2021: Kümas owns approximately 20% of the world's cryptocrystalline magnesite ore.
- 2024: The planned reduction in emissions is based on reducing coal consumption through a switch to biomass and natural gas while the company builds new electric arc furnaces at its facilities in southern and northern Turkey.
- 2025: The US$825m investment in green steel goals is to include a pelletisation plant with an annual capacity of 3 million tonnes and an EAF with an annual capacity of 1.4 million tonnes.
- 2026: In the first half of 2026, liquid steel output rose 24% year-on-year to 4.7 Mt, domestic sales accounted for 84% of revenue (75% a year earlier) and exports fell to 14% of sales volume. Capital expenditure fell back to US$225m for the half, down from a peak of US$1.1bn in 2024, while the company reaffirmed its emissions targets of a 25% cut by 2030, 40% by 2040 and net zero by 2050.