Turkey reduced scrap imports by 5.8% y/y in 1H2025

According to SteelOrbis, citing data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), Turkish steel companies reduced imports of ferrous scrap by 5.8% year-on-year – to 9.38 million tons in January-June 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.

Spending on raw material imports for the six months decreased by 16.2% year-on-year – to $3.56 billion. The key suppliers are the United States – 1.72 million tons (-18.8% y-o-y), the Netherlands – 1.5 million tons (+14.5% y-o-y), and the United Kingdom – 924,290 tons (-16.5% y-o-y). Belgium exported 740,860 tons of scrap (+14.1% y-o-y) to Turkey, Denmark – 496,900 tons (-0.7% y-o-y), and Lithuania – 486,100 tons (+0.9% y-o-y).

In June, imports of scrap to the Turkish market decreased by 8.7% compared to June 2024 and by 24.2% compared to the previous month, to 1.21 million tons. Import costs fell by 16.7% y/y and 27.6% m/m to $455.28 million.

The US sent 386,440 tons of raw materials to Turkey during the month (+9.5% y/y), the Netherlands – 131,510 tons (+50% y/y), Belgium – 79,030 tons (-12.7% y/y), Lithuania – 87.05 thousand tons (+20.2% y/y), Russia – 79.58 thousand tons (-23.4% y-o-y), Germany – 78.95 thousand tons (+42.1% y/y), Poland – 74.01 thousand tons (+235.5% y-o-y).

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2024, Turkey increased its imports of ferrous scrap by 6.7% compared to 2023, to 20.09 million tons. In December 2024, Turkish metallurgists imported 1.85 million tons of the relevant raw materials, which is 11.1% more than in December 2023 and 25.5% more than in the previous month.

The key suppliers of raw materials in December were the United States – 304,550 tons (-24.4% y/y), the Netherlands – 240,030 tons (+1.6%), the United Kingdom – 246,310 tons (+220.1%), Lithuania – 151.56 thousand tons (0 thousand tons in December 2023), Belgium – 189.64 thousand tons (+138.7%).

Turkey ranks eighth in the world in terms of steel production. In 2024, Turkish steel enterprises increased steel production by 9.4% compared to 2023, to 36.89 million tons.