Abstract:

The concept of concentration is defined as the distribution of buyers and sellers in terms of number and size in the product market. There is a reverse relationship between concentration and the number of companies in the sector and the competitiveness. As the concentration increases, the number of companies in the market decreases and consequently the industry’s competitiveness decreases. The most important economic problem in developing countries is the gap in large-scale trade transactions. The most effective way to reduce this gap is to give priority to policies that will increase exports and reduce the gap in foreign trade. As in other developing countries, the foreign trade strategy of Turkey is to reduce the foreign trade gap by increasing its exports. Reducing the concentration in exports is an important objective faced by economic policy practicers. Reducing concentration in exports, in other words, increasing product diversification, will play an important role in Turkey’s achieving a competitive advantage in the global economy. In this study, the purpose of the analysis of the concentration of the exports of the iron steel sector of the Turkish economy is to be done from the 2000-2017 period. The concentration of nine sub-sectors belonging to the steel industry was studied using concentration rates (CR-1 and CR-4) and the Gini-Hirschman Index (GHI) with three digital data according to the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC Rev.3) and the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC Rev.3) and the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC Rev.3) and the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC Rev.3) and the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC Rev.3) and the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC Rev.3) and the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC Rev.3) and the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC Rev.3) and the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). According to the results of the CR-1, CR-4 and GHI Index, the concentration rate of the iron steel sub-sector in Turkey for the 2000-2017 period is low and the product diversity is excessive. Turkey’s economy has shown a tendency to regularly decline in the iron steel sector, especially after 2011. The highest competitiveness period was the 2011-2017 period. The year with the highest concentration rate in the sector was 2008. Therefore, the global financial crises in the world economy in 2008 could be said to have a negative impact on the exports of the Turkish steel sector. According to the findings obtained from the study, in the study period, the competitive strength of the Turkish steel sector is high and a market structure is close to the full competitive market. The iron steel sector retains the characteristic of being a key sector in preserving and increasing the global competitiveness of Turkey.

Keywords: