Turkey’s steel bar exports continue to rise in October

In October, Turkey's steel bar exports continued their steady rise, which began in August this year.

According to the data provided by the Istanbul Mineral and Metals Exporters' Association (IMMIB), in October Turkey's total steel bar exports, including rebar, amounted to 658,440 metric tons, increasing by 21.17 percent year on year and up by 17.68 percent month on month. Meanwhile, the revenue generated by these exports totaled $319.3 million, declining by 27.71 percent compared to October 2008 and up 19 percent month on month.

In October, the average export price of Turkish steel bar amounted to $485/mt, up $5.46/mt or 1.14 percent from September levels, but down $328/mt or 40.33 percent from $813/mt in October last year.

Turkey's top ten steel bar export destinations in October 2009:

On the other hand, in the first ten months of this year, Turkey's steel bar exports slid 13.71 percent year on year to 7.92 million mt, totaling a value of $3.6 billion, down 57.99 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

In the January-October period, Egypt was Turkey's number one steel bar export destination, with exports totaling 2.28 million metric tons, followed by the UAE with 1.54 million metric tons of steel bar exports. Steel bar exports to Iraq during this period amounted to 671,545 metric tons, while exports to Libya reached 545,800 metric tons. Compared to the corresponding period of 2008, Egypt and Libya appear as new markets for Turkish bar exporters in January-October this year. Steel bar exports to Iraq and Yemen also increased significantly in the given period.