According to the data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), in January this year Turkey's steel billet and bloom exports amounted to 268,936 metric tons, more than double compared to the 112,179 mt recorded in the previous month and up 55 percent compared to the same month of 2012.
The revenue generated by these exports totaled $148 million, more than double compared to the previous month and up 44.7 percent from January 2012. According to the data released by TUIK, in January the average price of Turkey's steel billet exports stood at $550/mt, falling compared to the average of $589/mt recorded in January 2012.
In January this year, Turkey's billet exports to Saudi Arabia amounted to 178,847 mt, constituting 66.5 percent of total Turkish billet exports. The country's billet exports to Saudi Arabia increased strongly compared to the 79,996 mt recorded last December, while they were up 45.2 percent year on year. Egypt was the second biggest export destination for Turkish steel billet in January this year with exports amounting to 40,000 metric tons, more than triple month on month and up 64.4 percent compared to January 2012.
Turkey's main steel billet export destinations in January this year are presented in the chart below:
In 2012, Turkey's steel billet exports had increased by 24.25 percent year on year to 2.9 million metric tons. The revenue generated by Turkey's steel billet exports in the given year totaled $1.75 billion, increasing 14.4 percent compared to 2011. Last year, Turkey's steel billet exports to Saudi Arabia almost doubled on year-on-year basis, amounting to 1.4 million mt, hitting a record high. In addition, the country's steel billet exports to Iran in 2012 more than tripled year on year, amounting to 678,958 mt.