Turkey reduced scrap imports by 6.8% y/y in January-September

Turkish steel companies reduced imports of ferrous scrap by 6.8% in January-September 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, to 13.94 million tons, according to SteelOrbis, citing data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).

In September, imports of scrap to the Turkish market increased by 17.7% compared to September 2024 and by 21.6% compared to the previous month, to 1.69 million tons. The cost of imports amounted to $616.98 million, which is 4.3% more y/y and 22.4% m/m.

The key suppliers of scrap for the first nine months were the US (2.71 million tons, down 20.7% year-on-year), the UK (1.63 million tons, up 1.1% year-on-year), and the Netherlands (2.1 million tons, up 3.5% year-on-year). Over the first nine months, Russia supplied 658.62 thousand tons of raw materials to the Turkish market (+53% y-o-y), Belgium – 1.08 million tons (+13.6% y-o-y), and Romania – 705.4 thousand tons (+6.5% 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 steelmakers 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 US – 304.55 thousand tons (-24.4% y/y), the Netherlands – 240.03 thousand tons (+1.6%), the UK – 246.31 thousand 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. At the end of 2024, Turkish steel companies increased steel production by 9.4% compared to 2023, to 36.89 million tons.