Turkey increased scrap imports to 6.83 million tons in January-April

Import volumes increased by 2.5% y/y

In January-April 2024, Turkish steel enterprises increased their scrap imports by 2.5% compared to the same period in 2023, to 6.83 million tons. The value of imports during this period increased by 7.2% y/y – to $2.95 billion. This is evidenced by data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), SteelOrbis reports.

In April, Turkey imported 1.51 million tons of scrap, which is 5.9% less than in April 2023 and 17.7% m/m. Import costs fell by 13.5% y/y and 19.8% m/m to $659.7 million.

According to the results of 4 months, the main suppliers of raw materials to Turkey are the United States – 1.37 million tons (+9.2% y/y), the Netherlands – 1 million tons (+16.1% y/y), the UK – 728.96 thousand tons (+16.4% y/y) and Belgium – 701.02 thousand tons (-31.6% y/y). These countries account for 83% of total scrap imports by Turkish consumers.

Steel exports from Turkey in January-April 2024 increased by 49.4% y/y – to 4.2 million tons. The growth in exports was mainly due to an 84.4% increase in shipments of flat products.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, Turkey reduced scrap imports by 10% compared to 2022, to 18.83 million tons. The decrease in scrap imports to the country was due to low utilization of local steel mills.

Turkey ranks eighth in the world in terms of steel production. In 2023, Turkish steelmakers reduced steel production by 14% compared to 2022, to 33.7 million tons.

There are 30 steel mills in Turkey, including 4 blast furnace mills and 26 electric arc mills. Their annual steelmaking capacity is estimated at about 60 million tons. In other words, in 2023, capacity utilization was 58.5%.