In March this year, Turkey's total steel product exports amounted to 2 million metric tons, rising 23 percent compared to the same month of the previous year and up 19.8 percent momth on month, with a total revenue of $1.47 billion, up 10.4 percent over March 2012 and rising 18.6 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 March this year, receiving 788,000 metric tons, while it was followed by the EU countries and North Africa with 266,000 mt and 265,000 mt respectively. The most exported steel product in the given month in terms of volume was rebar with 916,000 mt, followed by 278,000 mt of steel billet, 183,000 mt of steel pipe, 160,000 mt of hot rolled flat steel, and 144,000 mt of steel section.
Meanwhile, in the first quarter of the current year Turkey's total steel product exports amounted to 5.24 million metric tons, up 7.7 percent compared to the same period last year. The revenue generated by these exports in January-March this year totaled $3.87 billion, decreasing by 1.1 percent year on year.
In the first three months of the current year, the Middle East was Turkey's largest destination for steel exports, receiving 2.1 million metric tons. In the given period, Turkey's steel product exports to the EU amounted to 874,000 mt, while North Africa imported 603,000 mt of steel products from Turkey.
Compared to the same period last year, the largest increases in Turkey's steel exports in January-March this year were recorded in volumes to EU countries, the Middle East and North Africa. In the first three months, exports of rebar, which ranks first among the country's exported steel products in terms of volume, amounted to 2.2 million mt, while Turkey exported 767,000 mt of steel billet, 490,000 mt of hot rolled flat steel, 463,000 mt of steel pipe and 397,000 mt of steel section in the period in question.