According to the customs statistics provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), Turkey imported 950,490 mt of slab in 2012, more than sextuple compared to the previous year. In 2012, Turkey's slab imports hit the highest level recorded since 2005. According to the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (DCUD), last year Turkey's slab output fell by nine percent year on year to 8.8 million mt, as mills which are capable of producing both slab and billet focused on producing billet amid falling prices in the flat steel market.
Turkey's slab imports reached 204,859 metric tons in December last year, up 24 percent compared to the previous month, reaching an all-time monthly high. Turkey's slab imports trended up on month-on-month basis in the second half of the year.
Turkey's top slab import source in 2012 was the UK which supplied 266,910 mt, while the second-biggest source was Ukraine with 191,366 mt. No slab imports from the UK and Ukraine had been recorded in 2011. On the other hand, Turkey's slab imports from the Netherlands, which was the top import source in 2011, declined 51 percent year on year to 40,806 mt in 2012.
Turkey's slab import distribution with respect to source countries in 2012 is as follows:
