According to the statistics provided by the Turkish Steel Pipe Manufacturers Association (CEBID), in May this year Turkey's total steel pipe exports amounted to 134,000 metric tons, increasing by 6.8 percent compared to the same month of the previous year and down 6.3 percent compared to April. Meanwhile, the revenue generated by these exports totaled $121 million, rising 5.5 percent compared to May 2012 but down four percent month on month.
Turkey's steel pipe exports in the January-May period amounted to 739,000 mt, increasing 2.4 percent compared to the same period of 2012, while the value of these exports indicated a year-on-year decrease of 2.6 percent to $658 million.
In the first five months of this year, the sluggish steel pipe demand from European Union countries and the strong decline in steel pipe exports to the US and the UK, which were in the largest three steel pipe export destinations of Turkey in 2012, were the main factors influencing Turkey's export levels. However, the increase in exports to Iraq and some other alternative markets was an important factor providing support for Turkish steel pipe exports in the given period.
In the January-May period of the year, the largest export markets for Turkish steel pipes were Iraq, the US and Algeria, while the exports to the US fell 26.5 percent and exports to the UK fell 41 percent, both compared to the same period of 2012.
Turkey's top 10 steel pipe export destinations in May 2013:
Country | Volume (mt) | |
May 2013 | May 2012 | |
Iraq | 26,947 | 22,465 |
Algeria | 16,068 | 4,605 |
UK | 10,510 | 24,895 |
Romania | 8,961 | 9,024 |
Italy | 8,096 | 4,374 |
France | 6,447 | 2,039 |
Canada | 6,193 | 445 |
Libya | 4,601 | 206 |
Azerbaijan | 4,385 | 3,361 |
Greece | 3,516 | 2,687 |
Other | 38,702 | 51,680 |
TOTAL | 134,426 | 125,780 |