According to the data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), in August this year Turkey's coking coal imports rose 8.6 percent compared to the previous month and were up 25.8 percent compared to August 2011, totaling 2.18 million metric tons. The country's coking coal imports have been trending more or less stable month on month since March this year, with the exception of a 10.5 percent month-on-month decrease recorded in July.
Turkey's coking coal imports from the CIS decreased on month-onmonth basis for the second consecutive month in August, amounting to 694,845 mt. Meanwhile, in August Turkey imported 325,441 mt of coking coal from Australia, following two months in which no imports were recorded from this destination. Furthermore, Colombia increased its coking coal exports to Turkey in August to 630,485 mt, up for the second consecutive month on month-on-month basis, following a strong month-on-month decrease in June.
In the first eight months of 2012, Turkey's coking coal imports totaled 17.4 million metric tons, increasing 19.5 percent compared to January-August 2011. Imports from Russia in the period in question amounted to 6.15 million metric tons, rising by 6.4 percent, while imports from Colombia amounted to 4.2 million mt, up 22.25 percent, both compared to the same period of 2011.