The Turkish Steel Exporters' Association (CIB) has stated that in the first four months of this year Turkey’s overall steel exports continued to increase. In the given period, Turkish steel companies recorded significant increases in their steel exports to the Far East and to Central and South America. In the January-April period of the current year, Turkey's steel exports increased by 23.9 percent year on year to 6.9 million mt, while the value of these exports totaled $4 billion, up 42.8 percent on year-on-year basis, according to the data released by the Turkish Steel Exporters' Association (CIB).
In the January-April period, Turkey's main steel export destination was the EU, which received two million mt of steel products from Turkey. The EU was followed by the Middle East, North America and North Africa, which imported 1.6 million mt, 953,000 mt and 565,000 mt of Turkish steel products respectively. In the given period, Spain, Italy, Singapore, the US and the UK recorded the highest year-on-year increases in steel product imports from Turkey.
In the given period, Turkish steel exports to Far Eastern countries went up by 540 percent year on year to 557,000 mt, with the exports mainly going to Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and India, while steel exports to Central and South America totaled 538,000 mt, rising by 80 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in the given period, Turkey's main exported steel product was rebar with total exports amounting to 2.3 million mt. Rebar was followed by hot rolled flat steel exports totaling one million mt, welded pipe exports amounting to 632,000 mt, wire rod exports reaching 551,000 mt and steel sections totaling 517,000 mt.
In April alone, Turkey's steel exports rose by 31.5 percent year on year to 1.7 million mt, while the value of these exports totaled $1 billion, up 46.9 percent compared to the same period of 2016.
“In the given period, we saw significant decreases in our rebar exports to the Middle East due to the ongoing war environment in the region and the various challenges our companies come across. However, these decreases were offset by the increase in our rebar exports to Far Eastern countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia,” commented CIB chairman Namık Ekinci.