Turkey’s scrap imports in May up 23 percent from April

In May this year, Turkey’s scrap imports continued to increase both month on month and year on year. The import volume in May alone came to 2,029 million mt, up approximately 23 percent month on month, according to the data provided by the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD). During the January-May period of the current year, Turkish steelmakers’ full order books both for long and flat steel led them to continue purchasing scrap at a rapid pace, resulting a gradual rise in tonnages bought.

During the January-May period, Turkey's steel scrap import volume increased by 32.5 percent on year on year to 10.828 million metric tons. The value of these imports exceeded $4.460 million, up 95 percent year on year. Looking at Turkey’s scrap imports in May in detail, the EU maintained its number one position among suppliers of Turkey’s scrap imports with a 56 percent share, followed by the US with 13.8 percent and then the UK with a 11.9 percent share. It is noteworthy that Turkey’s scrap imports from the US indicated a 10.5 percent decrease year on year in the first five months of 2021.

The main sources of Turkey’s scrap imports in January-May 2021 can be seen in the table below:

The number of bookings for June shipments is expected to be higher than for May shipments and to indicate a rise year on year. Turkey’s scrap imports had totaled 1.535 million mt in June 2020, while amounting to 9.707 million mt in the first half of 2020.