Turkey’s scrap imports in December up 11.5 percent from November

The gradual uptrend of Turkey’s scrap imports continued in December. The import volume in December alone came to 2.330 million mt, up approximately 11.5 percent month on month, according to the data provided by Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD). On the long steel side, Turkish mills are offering rebar and merchant bar for March shipment and wire rod for April shipment, while their flat steel bookings are now for April production. This situation in the finished steel segment is providing support for Turkey’s scrap imports.

In 2020 overall, Turkey's steel scrap import volume increased by 19.3 percent on year on year to 22.487 million metric tons. The value of these imports exceeded $6.253 million, up 11.4 percent year on year. Looking at the details of Turkey’s scrap imports in 2020, the EU maintained its leading position among the suppliers of Turkey’s scrap imports with a 63.2 percent share of the total, followed by the US with a 19.4 percent share. The main sources of the imported scrap in the full year of 2020 can be seen in the table below:

The numbers of bookings for January shipments is expected to be lower than the number of bookings for December shipments and to indicate a similar tonnage as compared to January 2020.