In March this year, Turkey’s pig iron imports amounted to 234,936 metric tons, up by 343.3 percent compared to February and by 39.4 percent year on year, according to the preliminary data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). The sharp rise was due to the attractive prices of ex-Russia material given the end of the quota Russian suppliers had in Europe.
Meanwhile, the value of these imports totaled $83.30 million, increasing by 314.3 percent compared to the previous month and by 13.9 percent year on year.
In the January-March period, Turkey's pig iron imports amounted to 446,573 mt, down 1.4 percent, while the value of these imports decreased by 15.6 percent to $164.12 million, both year on year.
Turkey’s pig iron imports - January-March 2025
In the given period, Turkey’s largest pig iron import source was Russia, which supplied 295,369 mt, down 13.8 percent year on year. Russia was followed by Kazakhstan with 67,924 mt and Indonesia with 47,083 mt. “I would say that, except for one mill in Turkey, everyone buys from Russia. Even supplies from Kazakhstan could in fact be Russian or Donbass pig iron with changed documents,” a trading source commented to SteelOrbis.
Turkey’s top pig iron import sources in the January-March period this year:
| Country | Amount (mt) | |||||
| January-March 2025 | January-March 2024 | Y-o-y change (%) | March 2025 | March 2024 | Y-o-y change (%) | |
| Russia | 295,369 | 342,853 | -13.8 | 162,445 | 136,520 | 19.0 |
| Kazakhstan | 67,924 | 23,427 | 189.9 | 42,352 | 21,286 | 99.0 |
| Indonesia | 47,083 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Germany | 30,084 | 8 | - | 30,084 | 8 | - |
| Norway | 6,052 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Iran | 48 | - | - | 48 | - | - |
| Italy | 13 | - | - | 7 | - | - |
Shares in Turkey’s pig iron imports - January-March 2025
