Turkey increased import of billets from Ukraine by 2.9 times y/y in January-June

In January-June 2024, Turkish steel companies increased the import of steel billets from Ukraine by 195.6% compared to the same period in 2023 – to 57.91 thousand tons. This is evidenced by the data of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), SteelOrbis reports.

In June 2024, Turkey imported 17.26 thousand tons of Ukrainian-made billets, which is 73% more compared to May, while in June 2023, the corresponding products were not imported. The increase in billet imports from Ukraine was facilitated by the opening of the export of iron and steel products through Ukrainian seaports, as well as the improvement of the situation on the Turkish steel market.

In general, in 6 months, Turkish steelmakers reduced billet imports by 32.6% compared to January-June 2023. In June, this volume was 164.38 thousand tons, which is 5.9% more month-on-month and 38.3% less y/y.

The largest source of billet imports by Turkey for January-June 2024 is the Russian Federation – 278.65 thousand tons (940.45 thousand tons in January-June 2023), Algeria – 173.06 thousand tons (-52.5 % y/y), Indonesia – 186.28 thousand tons (not imported in January-June 2023), Malaysia – 161.8 thousand tons (+91.8% y/y). Ukraine ranks 7th in terms of the volume of billet supplies to Turkey.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, Turkey increased its billet imports by 22% compared to 2022 – up to 3.07 million tons. The Russian Federation shipped 1.39 million tons of products (-7.3% y/y), Algeria – 547.5 thousand tons (+392%), Oman – 251.5 thousand tons (+1.6%).

Last year, Ukraine shipped 67.13 thousand tons (-42.9% y/y) of billets to Turkish consumers. In 2024, Ukrainian steelmakers will probably increase the export of products to alternative EU markets thanks to the establishment of the maritime corridor, in particular to Turkey, if such demand arises.