Latin America's trade deficit with Turkey increased by 55 percent in 2013, mainly due to a drop in the revenues generated by raw material exports and ongoing high levels of finished steel imports from Turkey, according to Alacero, the Latin American steel association.
In 2013, Turkey exported 1.26 million mt of finished steel to Latin America, down just one percent year on year following a 20 percent year-on-year rise in 2012. Rebar accounted for 71 percent of Turkish exports to Latin America in 2013. The main export destinations were Brazil, Peru and Central America. All other countries, including Mexico, received volumes less than 90,000 mt.
Turkey is a net importer of raw materials from Latin America. In 2013, Turkey imported nearly 10 million mt of raw material, including 7 million mt of coal from Colombia and 3 million mt of iron ore from Brazil.
Alacero said that these figures indicate a drop compared to the exports registered in 2012, when Brazil exported 4.6 million mt of iron ore to Turkey. Also, since 2011, constant price decreases have also contributed to reducing the region's surplus in its raw material trade with Turkey.