Turkey in January-April reduced hot rolled imports from Ukraine by 55%

In April, deliveries of Ukrainian metal products stopped, while in March, earlier ordered batches arrived

In January-April 2022, Turkish steel plants reduced imports of hot-rolled steel from Ukraine by 55.2% compared to the same period in 2021, to 200.26 thousand tons, Steel Orbis reported, citing data from the Turkish Statistical Institute.

In April, the supply of Ukrainian metal products to Turkey was completely stopped due to the blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russian troops. At the same time, in March, Turkish companies received 18,000 tons of rolled products from Ukraine, which were ordered and shipped before the blockade.

Ukrainian metal products accounted for 14% of the country’s total procurement in 4 months.

In general, in January-April, Turkish steelmakers reduced imports of rolled metal products by 1.7% compared to the same period in 2021, to 1.41 million tons.

Before the war, Ukraine was first on the list of rolled steel suppliers to Turkey. The suspension of supplies pushed Ukrainian producers to second place in terms of imported products. The first was India, whose steel companies shipped 360 thousand tons in January-April, increasing supplies by 18.3 times.

Earlier GMK Center reported that in 2021 Turkey increased imports of hot rolled products from Ukraine by 65.9% compared to 2020, to 1.1 million tons. In general, the country increased imports of rolled products by 39.7%, to 4.9 million tons.

Turkey ranks seventh in the world in terms of steel production. According to World Steel, the country in 2021 increased steel production by 13% compared to 2020, to 40.4 million tons.