In April this year, Turkey's slab imports amounted to 152,261 mt, down 5.51 percent month on month and increasing by 2.5 percent year on year, according to the data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). The total value of Turkey's slab imports in the given month was $81.65 million, down 6.07 percent month on month and increasing by 9.47 percent compared to April 2013. According to the data for April this year, the average price for Turkish slab imports in the given month was $536.28/mt, decreasing $3.19/mt from the average of $539.47/mt recorded in the previous month.
In the first four months of the current year, Turkey's slab imports decreased by 21.34 percent year on year to 531,497 mt, due to high slab prices. Meanwhile, the value of Turkey's slab imports in this period was $280.06 million, down 16.61 percent year on year.
In the first four months of this year, Turkey imported 300,055 metric tons of slab from the UK, up 63.41 percent year on year. The UK was Turkey's largest slab import source in the period in question, followed by Ukraine, which supplied 146,297 mt, up 268.01 percent, and Sweden with 31,599 mt, down 53.48 percent, both on year-on-year basis. Meanwhile, in the given period, Turkey's slab imports from Russia, which was the top slab source for Turkey last year, decreased by 90.28 percent year on year to 30,602 mt, due to Russia preferring to sell its high-priced slab to the US rather than to Turkey.
Turkey's slab import sources in the first four months of this year are as follows:
| Country | Amount (mt) | |||||
| Jan-Apr. 2014 | Jan-Apr. 2013 | Y-o-y change (%) | Apr. 2014 | Apr. 2013 | Y-o-y change (%) | |
| UK | 300,055 | 183,624 | 63.41 | 76,503 | - | - |
| Ukraine | 146,297 | 39,754 | 268.01 | 66,681 | 24,736 | 169.57 |
| Sweden | 31,599 | 67,921 | -53.48 | - | - | - |
| Russia | 30,602 | 314,975 | -90.28 | 9,077 | 54,573 | -83.37 |
| Netherlands | 22,709 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Italy | 191 | 112 | 70.54 | - | - | - |
| Germany | 22 | 83 | -73.49 | - | - | - |
| Czech Rep</strong>. | 21 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Austria | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - |
Turkey's sources of imported slab in the first four months of the current year can be seen in the graph below:
