Steel exports from Turkey grew by 12.5% y/y in 2025

In 2025, steel exports from Turkey showed steady growth of 12.5% compared to 2024, reaching 15.1 million tons. This is stated in a press release from the Turkish Steel Producers Association (TCUD).

The value of exports last year increased by 4.3% y/y – to $10.2 billion. In December alone, shipments amounted to 1.4 million tons (+5.5% y/y) worth $898.9 million (+2.1% y/y), indicating continued activity at the end of the year.

At the same time, imports of steel products also increased. In 2025, steel imports grew by 8.6% y/y – to a record 18.9 million tons, despite a slight decrease in value of 0.7% to $13.1 billion. In December, imports fell by 18.6% y/y in physical terms (1.5 million tons) and by 16.6% y/y in monetary terms ($1 billion), but this did not change the overall upward trend for the year.

Russia and China remained the key sources of supply. Imports from Russia increased by 37.9% y/y – to 4.5 million tons, and from China by 13.3% – to 4.2 million tons. The strengthening of these countries’ presence, along with state subsidies and dumping prices, was one of the factors contributing to the expansion of Turkey’s trade deficit, which increased by 11.9% y/y in 2025 – to $92.9 billion.

Against this backdrop, the ratio of exports to imports in the steel sector improved from 73.9% in 2024 to 77.6% in 2025, but the industry continues to face fierce competition in global markets. Additional pressure on foreign sales is created by EU regulatory initiatives, in particular the tightening of quotas and the introduction of CBAM, which is gradually changing the conditions of access to the European market and forcing Turkish exporters to adapt to new requirements for carbon footprint and product traceability.

Domestic consumption of rolled metal products reached 3.4 million tons in December, up 3.8% from December 2024. For 2025, the figure rose by 2.6% y/y – to 39.3 million tons.

It should be recalled that in 2024, Turkey increased its steel exports by 27.6% y/y – to 13.4 million tons. Steel imports at the end of last year amounted to 17.4 million tons (+1.7% y/y). Rolled steel consumption in the country during this period increased by only 0.6% year-on-year, to 38.3 million tons.