Turkey increased imports of billets from Ukraine by 98% y/y in January-July

In January-July 2024, Turkish steel companies increased imports of steel billets from Ukraine by 98.3% compared to the same period in 2023, up to 94.95 thousand tonnes. This is evidenced by data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), SteelOrbis reports.

In July 2024, Turkey imported 37.02 thousand tonnes of Ukrainian billets, up 114.5% compared to June and 30.9% compared to July 2023. The increase in imports of billets from Ukraine was facilitated by the opening of exports of iron and steel products by Ukrainian seaports, as well as an improvement in the Turkish steel market.

Overall, Turkish steelmakers reduced billet imports by 29.5% in 7 months compared to January-July 2023. In July, the volume totalled 261.25 thousand tonnes, up 58.9% m/m and 7.8% y/y.

In January-July 2024, the largest source of imports of billets by Turkey was the Russian Federation – 321.42 thsd tonnes (1.05 mln tonnes in January-July 2023), Algeria – 208.86 thsd tonnes (-49.6% y/y), Indonesia – 215.87 thsd tonnes (not imported in January-July 2023), Malaysia – 211.83 thsd tonnes (+124.4% y/y). Ukraine ranks 6th in terms of billet supplies to Turkey.

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

Last year, Ukraine shipped 67.13 kt (-42.9% y/y) of billets to Turkish consumers. In 2024, Ukrainian steelmakers are likely to increase exports to alternative markets to the EU thanks to the establishment of the sea corridor, including Turkey, if there is demand.