According to the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (TCUD), in spite of the slight increase in Turkey’s steel exports in the first two months of 2016, Turkey’s steel imports maintained their strong rising trend, strengthening Turkey’s position as a net importer of steel. Accordingly, in the first two months of this year, Turkey's steel exports covered 84 percent of its steel imports.
In February, Turkey’s steel imports rose by 16.5 percent year on year to 1.85 million mt.
In the January-February period of this year, Turkey's steel imports increased by 22.8 percent year on year, following the 38 percent year-on-year increase in 2015, but the value of these imports decreased by 2.7 percent compared to the same period of last year. In the first two months this year, Turkey’s semi-finished imports rose by 18.3 percent on year-on-year basis to 1.29 million mt and Turkey’s flat steel imports increased by 22.1 percent year on year. The sharp increase in Turkey’s steel imports exerted downward pressure on the capacity utilization rates of local flat steel producers.