The Turkish Steel Exporters' Association (CIB) has stated that 16 representatives from 13 companies participated in the recent trade mission it organized to the US, visiting the main steel trade regions of Chicago and Houston. The participants had the chance to observe developments in the steel industry. The trade mission centered on trade between the two countries, as well as on joint investments and cooperation opportunities in both countries.
CIB chairman Namık Ekinci said that Turkey is one of several countries capable of importing to the US and Turkish steel products make up of an important portion of the trade volume between Turkey and the US. According the official US data, in 2015 the US imported 2.61 million mt of steel products from Turkey, worth $1.63 billion, accounting for 5.4 percent of total US imports. Ekinci said that Turkey imports scrap, which is the most important input in steelmaking, from the US and Turkey’s total scrap imports in 2015 stood at 16.3 million mt, while 23.6 percent of this total came from the US. In 2015, scrap exports from the US reached 12.8 million mt, of which 3.96 million mt went to Turkey, accounting for 31 percent of total US scrap exports. The CIB chairman said that he expects to improve cooperation between the two countries in the coming period as a result of the trade mission.