In December, due to the seasonal factors affecting the construction industry, Turkey's steel bar exports reached their lowest monthly volume level for 2009, with a decrease of 8.26 percent compared to November.
According to the data provided by the Istanbul Mineral and Metals Exporters' Association (IMMIB), in December 2009 Turkey's total steel bar exports, including rebar, amounted to 516,141 metric tons, decreasing by 22.66 percent year on year and down by 8.26 percent month on month. Meanwhile, the revenue generated by these exports totaled $241.6 million, declining by 22.19 percent compared to December 2008 and down 8.56 percent month on month.
In December, the average export price of Turkish steel bar amounted to $468/mt, down $1.66/mt or 0.35 percent from November levels, and up $2.85/mt or 0.61 percent from December last year.
Turkey's top ten steel bar export destinations in December 2009:
Country |
Quantity (mt) |
Yemen |
109,573 |
UAE |
80,891 |
Libya |
52,095 |
Iraq |
44,457 |
Egypt |
39,457 |
Peru |
27,088 |
Brazil |
24,346 |
Israel |
23,001 |
Ethiopia |
15,192 |
Turkmenistan |
10,670 |
On the other hand, in 2009 Turkey's steel bar exports slid 14.12 percent year on year to 8.98 million mt, totaling a value of $4.09 billion, down 55.37 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
In the January-December period, Egypt was Turkey's number one steel bar export destination, with exports totaling 2.33 million metric tons. However, steel bar exports to Egypt showed a steady decrease in the April-November period of 2009, while in December a significant increase was registered. Egypt is followed by the UAE with 1.71 million metric tons of steel bar exports. Steel bar exports to Iraq during this period amounted to 776,877 metric tons, while exports to Libya reached 625,883 metric tons.
The graph below shows the volume changes in Turkey's major steel bar export markets in the past six months:
