Turkey imported 694 thousand tons of iron ore from Ukraine in January-May

In January-May of this year, Turkish steel enterprises imported 694.14 thousand tons of iron ore from Ukraine, compared to 257.47 thousand tons in 5 months of 2023. This is evidenced by preliminary data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), SteelOrbis reports.

In particular, in May, the country imported 75.9 thousand tons of Ukrainian iron ore, which is 66% less than in the same period last year.

In general, over 5 months, Turkey increased iron ore imports by 56% y/y – to 4.48 million tons, while its costs increased by 66.9% y/y – to $603.52 million.

In May of this year, the country imported 878.94 thousand tons of this raw material, which is 17.7% less than in April and 42.6% more than in the previous year. Revenue from these imports amounted to $109.59 million for the month, down 21.9% m/m and 29.9% y/y.

Brazil was the main supplier of raw materials in January-May, with 2.24 million tons (+13% y/y). Ukraine ranks second among the exporters of iron ore to Turkey, and South Africa is third – 688.3 thousand tons (60 tons in January-May 2023).

As GMK Center reportred earlier, in January-May 2024, Turkish steel companies increased imports of steel billets from Ukraine by 107.5% compared to the same period in 2023, up to 40.65 thousand tons. In May this year, Turkey imported 10 thousand tons of Ukrainian billets, up 100.8% year-on-year.