ANKARA: The most recent statistics released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) suggests huge drop in steel scrap imports by the country during the month of November last year.
According to TUIK data, Turkey imported 1.30 million tons of steel scrap during Nov ’15. The imports were down sharply by 15% when matched with the imports during the same month a year before. The Turkish steel scrap import volume had amounted to 1.53 million tons during Nov ’14. When compared with the previous month, the imports during Nov ’15 were down by 15%.
The Turkish steel scrap imports totaled 14.50 million tons during the initial eleven-month period of 2015. The imports were down by 18.4% when compared with the corresponding eleven-month period in 2014. The Turkish steel scrap imports had totaled 17.80 million tons during Jan-Nov ’14.
The largest exporter of steel scrap to Turkey during Jan-Nov ’15 was the US. Turkey’s steel scrap imports from the US totaled 3.39 million tons, significantly down by 9.7% over the previous year. The second largest exporter was Russia with 2.26 million tons. The steel scrap imports by Turkey from Russia dropped significantly by 14.83% year-over-year.
Meantime, the statistics released by the Turkey Iron and Steel Producers Association (TCUD) indicates that the country’s crude steel production dropped marginally by 7.4% in 2015, when matched with the previous year. The production totaled 31.52 million tons during the entire year 2015. The output during Dec ’15 alone dropped slightly by 1.6% over the year to total 2.67 million tons. The unfair imports of cheaper products from other countries have resulted in squeezed margins for domestic Turkish steel producers.
