In May this year, Turkey's billet and bloom import volume increased by 35.73 percent year on year to 428,829 metric tons, up 103.26 percent compared to the previous month, according to the data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). The value of these imports totaled $227.23 million, up 28.19 percent year on year and increasing by 100.65 percent compared to the previous month.
Meanwhile, in the first five months of this year Turkey imported 1.31 million mt of billet and bloom, up 2.7 percent, with a value of $705.75 million, increasing by 3.4 percent, both year on year.
In the first five months, Turkey imported 794,612 mt of billet and bloom from Ukraine, 14.75 percent higher year on year, with Ukraine ranking first among Turkey's main billet and bloom import sources, ahead of Russia which supplied 399,080 mt in the given period, up 9.22 percent year on year. Meanwhile, in May this year Ukraine was also the leading source for Turkey's billet and bloom imports, supplying 240,807 mt, up 37.45 percent year on year.
Turkey's top 10 billet and bloom import sources in January-May this year are as follows:
| Country | Amount (mt) | |||||
| Jan-May 2014 | Jan-May 2013 |
Y-oy- change (%) | May 14 | May 13 | Y-oy- change (%) | |
| Ukraine | 794,612 | 692,481 | 14.75 | 240,807 | 175,192 | 37.45 |
| Russia | 399,080 | 365,389 | 9.22 | 143,344 | 108,780 | 31.77 |
| Georgia | 36,768 | 16,777 | 119.16 | 7,348 | 962 | 663.83 |
| Serbia | 27,335 | 28,499 | -4.08 | 9,594 | 4,835 | 98.43 |
| Albania | 21,759 | 25,473 | -14.58 | 21,613 | - | - |
| Bosnia-Herz. | 10,989 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Belarus | 7,235 | 75,477 | -90.41 | 4,949 | 14,852 | -66.68 |
| France | 5,660 | 5,879 | -3.73 | 35 | 149 | -76.51 |
| Germany | 4,423 | 19,104 | -76.85 | 821 | 730 | 12.47 |
| Egypt | 1,923 | 8,203 | -76.56 | - | 1,006 | - |
Turkey's main billet and bloom sources on country basis in the first five months this year are presented below:
