In August this year, Turkey's total steel product exports amounted to 1.7 million metric tons, rising 23.9 percent compared to the same month of the previous year and up 6.25 percent momth on month, with a total revenue of $1.28 billion, up 4.5 percent over August 2011 and rising 1.6 percent compared to the previous month, according to the Turkey's Steel Exporters' Association (CIB).
The Middle East was Turkey's largest destination for steel exports in August this year, receiving 786,000 metric tons, while it was followed by the Far East and South Asia with 149,000 mt, EU countries with 146,000 mt, non-EU European countries with 120,000 mt and North Africa with 95,000 mt. The most exported steel product in terms of volume was rebar amounting to 652,000 mt, followed by 459,000 mt of steel billet, 152,000 mt of steel pipe, 111,000 mt of section steel and 78,000 mt of wire rod in the month in question.
Meanwhile, in the first eight months of the current year Turkey's total steel product exports amounted to 13.4 million metric tons, up 10.5 percent compared to the same period last year. The revenue generated by these exports in January-August this year totaled $10.6 billion, increasing by 4.1 percent year on year.
In the first eight months of the current year, the Middle East was Turkey's largest destination for steel exports, receiving 5.6 million metric tons. In the given period, Turkey's steel product exports to the EU amounted to 1.4 million mt, while North Africa imported 1.3 million mt of steel products from Turkey.
Compared to the same period last year, the largest steel export increases in January-August this year were recorded in exports to non-EU European countries, North America, central, eastern, southern and western Africa, and the Middle East. In the first eight months, exports of rebar, which ranks first among the country's exported steel products in terms of volume, amounted to 5.97 million mt, while Turkey exported 2.13 million mt of steel billet, 1.19 million mt of steel pipe, 1.16 million mt of steel section and 760,000 mt of wire rod in the period in question.