Turkey’s iron ore imports down 17.3% in Q1 amid lower crude steel output

In March this year, Turkey’s iron ore imports amounted to 951,292 metric tons, up by 176.6 percent compared to February and by 11.1 percent year on year, according to the preliminary data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). Meanwhile, the revenue generated by these imports totaled $100.71 million, increasing by 205.7 percent compared to the previous month and down by 18.4 percent year on year.

In the January-March period, Turkey's iron ore imports amounted to 2.09 million mt, down 17.3 percent, while the value of these imports decreased by 35.4 percent to $228.52 million, both year on year.

Turkey’s iron ore imports - January-March 2025

In the given period, Turkey’s largest iron ore import source was Brazil, with 1.40 million mt, down by 3.8 percent year on year. Brazil was followed by Sweden with 330,710 mt and Uzbekistan with 173,456 mt.

The lower iron ore imports in the first quarter were due to the slowdown of crude steel production compared to the same period in 2024, which was more significant among BOF-based mills. In the first quarter, Turkey’s crude steel production fell by 2.9 percent compared to the same period in 2024 to 9.26 million mt. However, the crude steel production from BOFs totaled 2.506 million mt, according to SteelOrbis’ data, down 12.4 percent from the same quarter of 2024. Last year was a rather strong year for Turkey in terms of crude steel production after two years of stagnation, but global challenges such as volatile demand and competition from Asian producers affected the indicators for the beginning of the current year.

Turkey’s iron ore import sources in the January-March period this year:

Shares in Turkey’s iron ore imports - January-March 2025