According to the data announced by the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (TCUD), in September this year Turkey's steel imports totaled 1.42 million mt, increasing by 32 percent year on year, while the value of these imports rose by 19.5 percent year on year to $1.16 billion. Meanwhile, in the given month Turkey's steel exports fell 13.5 percent to 1.39 million mt, with a value of $1.21 billion, down 11 percent, both year on year.
In September this year, Turkey's slab imports increased by 87.3 percent to 199,000 mt, its billet imports rose by eight percent to 301,000 mt, flat product imports moved up by 37 percent to 718,000 and long product imports rose by 9.2 percent to 127,000 mt, all year on year. In the given month, Turkey's billet exports fell by 75 percent to 60,000 mt, its slab exports decreased by 98.6 percent, flat product exports were up 2.4 percent to 120,000 mt and long product exports declined by 4.7 percent to 874,000 mt, all compared to September 2012.
In the January-September period of the current year, Turkey's steel imports increased by 28.4 percent to 11 million mt, with a total value of $9.56 billion, up 15.1 percent, both year on year. In this period, Turkey's steel exports fell by 5.2 percent to 14.3 million mt, with a value of $11.9 billion, down 7.5 percent, both compared to the same period of 2012.
In the first nine months this year, Turkey's billet imports increased by 28.3 percent to 2.29 million mt, its slab imports rose by 274.6 percent to 1.6 million mt, flat product imports increased by 12.2 percent to 5.43 million mt, long product imports increased by 6.3 percent to 1.07 million mt, and steel pipe imports increased by 24.1 percent to 344,000 mt, all year on year. The high price of scrap imports contributed to the increased volume of slab imports, as slab production of Turkish domestic producers declined.
Meanwhile, in the January-September period this year Turkey's billet exports indicated a decline of 41.2 percent to 1.35 million mt, while its slab product exports fell by 97.6 percent, both year on year. The fact that Turkey's billet prices are higher than those of CIS countries has had a negative impact on Turkey's steel billet export volume. In the January-September period, Turkey's exports of flat steel increased by 43.6 percent to 1.85 million mt, while its exports of long steel products declined by 5.7 percent to 8.38 million mt, year on year. In the given period, Turkey registered increased exports of hot rolled coils (HRC) to Italy, Spain and Portugal due to the disruption of the production of Italian steel producer Ilva.