In the January-April period of this year, Turkey's steel scrap import volume increased by 18.5 percent on year on year to 7.005 million metric tons, according to the data provided by the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD). The value of these imports totaled $1.982 million, up 5.4 percent year on year.
While the scrap import volume in the January-March this year was 5.282 million mt, the import volume in April alone came to 1.723 million mt, up 32.6 percent month on month.
In the first four months of the year, the EU remained the leading supplier of scrap to Turkey, with a 64.6 percent share of its total imports, followed by the US with 18.6 percent. The main sources of Turkey’s scrap imports in the first four months of 2020 can be seen in the table below:
|
Imported tonnage Jan-April 2020 (mt) |
Change year on year (%) |
US |
1,345,933 |
+27.9 |
EU |
4,528,190 |
+17.7 |
CIS |
649,859 |
-4.1 |
Others |
480,893 |
+51.7 |
Total |
7,004,877 |
+18.5 |
The numbers for May scrap imports are expected to be slightly higher than in April. As the market in May gained some equilibrium, though still somewhat precarious, with mills concluding more scrap bookings for June shipments, purchased volumes are expected to indicate a significant month-on-month rise in June.