In the January-September period of the current year, Turkey's steel exports increased by seven percent year on year to 13.1 million mt, while the value of these exports totaled $8.2 billion, up 23.4 percent on year-on-year basis, according to the data released by the Turkish Steel Exporters' Association (CIB).
In the January-September period, Turkey's main steel export destination was the EU, which received 4 million mt of steel products from Turkey, increasing by 53 percent year on year. The EU was followed by the Middle East, North America and North Africa, which imported 3 million mt, 1.8 million mt and 1 million mt of Turkish steel products respectively. In the given period, Turkish steel exports to Central and South America, especially Chile, Colombia, Panama and Haiti, amounted to 937,000 mt, up 40 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in the given period, Turkey's main exported steel product was rebar with total exports amounting to 4.1 million mt, down 23 percent from the same period of the previous year. Rebar was followed by hot rolled flat steel exports totaling 1.9 million mt, welded pipe exports amounting to 1.4 million mt, steel sections totaling 1 million mt and wire rod exports reaching 968,000 mt.
In September alone, Turkey's steel exports fell by 19 percent year on year to 1 million mt, while the value of these exports totaled $746 million, decreasing by 4.1 percent compared to the same period of 2016.
“In the first nine months of the current year, the highest year-on-year increases were recorded in export volumes to Singapore, Italy, Spain, Hong Kong and Canada, respectively. Hot rolled flat steel exports increased to Italy and Spain, while rebar exports increased to Singapore, Hong Kong and Canada. In the given period, the highest declines were recorded in the UAE, Egypt, Oman, the US and Iraq. This was mostly due to Middle Eastern countries building their own industries and making imports difficult in order to support domestic production.” CIB chairman Namik Ekinci said.