Turkey reduced scrap imports by 9.4% y/y in January-August

Turkish steel companies reduced imports of ferrous scrap by 9.4% year-on-year in January-August 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, to 12.25 million tons, according to SteelOrbis, citing data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).

In August, imports of scrap to the Turkish market decreased by 29.1% compared to August 2024 and by 5.5% compared to the previous month, to 1.39 million tons. The cost of imports amounted to $504.25 million, which is 37.5% less y/y and 6.7% m/m.

The key suppliers of scrap over the eight months were the US (2.31 million tons, down 21.1% year-on-year), the UK (1.43 million tons, down 1.5% year-on-year), and the Netherlands (1.96 million tons, up 8.1% year-on-year). Over the first eight months, Russia supplied 524.49 thousand tons of raw materials to the Turkish market (+32.9% y-o-y), Belgium – 967.17 thousand tons (-11.4% y-o-y), and Denmark – 639.62 thousand tons (-3.6% 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 US – 304,550 tons (-24.4% y/y), the Netherlands – 240,030 tons (+1.6%), the UK – 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. At the end of 2024, Turkish steel companies increased steel production by 9.4% compared to 2023, to 36.89 million tons.