Turkey’s scrap import value down 40 percent in May

According to the data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), in May this year Turkey's steel scrap import volume saw a significant decline of 28.7 percent compared to the previous month. In addition, the country's scrap imports fell 31.6 percent compared to May 2012, amounting to 1.3 million metric tons.

According to the data released by TUIK, Turkey's scrap import value was $525 million in May, down 29.7 percent compared to April this year and down 40 percent year on year. In May this year, the average price of Turkey's steel scrap imports stood at $391/mt, falling approximately $6/mt compared to the previous month and down strongly compared to the average of $446/mt recorded in the same month of 2012.

In May of the current year, Turkey imported 788,698 mt of steel scrap from the EU, decreasing 21.1 percent compared to the previous month and down three percent year on year, while scrap imports from the CIS totaled 244,814 mt, decreasing by 40.9 percent year on year and up 45.4 percent on month-on-month basis. Turkey imported 212,810 mt of scrap from North America in May, falling strongly both year on year and compared to April and declining to its lowest level recorded since July 2010.

In the first five months of the year, Turkey's steel scrap imports amounted to 7.56 million mt, decreasing 19.2 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, with a value of $3 billion, down 28.2 percent year on year.

Turkey's main scrap sources on country basis in the first five months of this year are presented in the chart below:

Turkey's top 10 steel scrap import sources in January-May 2013 are as follows: