Turkey's scrap imports down 16 percent in August from July

In August this year, Turkey's steel scrap import volume declined by 15.57 percent year on year to 1,468,550 metric tons, down 16 percent compared to the previous month, according to the data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). The value of this import volume totaled $524 million, down 23 percent year on year and decreasing by 16 percent compared to the previous month.

In August of the current year, Turkey imported 396,012 mt of scrap steel from the US, down 17 percent month on month. Despite this decrease, the US remained first among Turkey's major steel scrap import sources with 3.54 million mt in the first eight months of the year, ahead of the UK and Romania.
 
On the other hand, in the January-August period this year, Turkey's steel scrap import volume decreased 17 percent to 12.5 million mt, valued at $4.8 billion, down 26 percent, both year on year. Among the reasons for this decrease in the steel scrap import volume, the drop in Turkey's steel production takes the lead. As SteelOrbis previously reported, in the first nine months of the year Turkey's crude steel output decreased by five percent year on year to 25.81 million mt. On the other hand, another reason is the gradual increase in Turkey's domestic scrap generation. As SteelOrbis has been informed by Veysel Yayan, general secretary of the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (TCÜD), domestic scrap supplies in Turkey increased by between six and seven percent year on year in the first eight months of this year. The TCÜD foresees that Turkey's steel scrap import volume will show a drop of 3 million mt this year, compared to 2012. Last year, Turkey's steel scrap import volume had reached 22.42 million mt.
 

Turkey's main scrap sources on country basis in the first eight months of this year are presented below:

Turkey's top 10 steel scrap import sources in January-August 2012 are as follows: