Turkey’s steel exports fell by 2.9% y/y over a five-month period

In May, Turkish steel exports fell by 0.2% year-on-year to 1.36 million tonnes, whilst their value decreased by 0.6% year-on-year to $914 million. Overall, for January–May, this figure fell by 2.9% year-on-year to 6.13 million tonnes. Export revenue for this period fell by 4.7% year-on-year to $6.1 billion. This was reported by SteelOrbis, citing data from the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD).

By product type, flat steel exports for the first five months of 2026 totalled 2.5 million tonnes (-8.4% year-on-year), whilst long steel exports stood at 3.2 million tonnes (-4.8% year-on-year). By contrast, exports of semi-finished products showed rapid growth – up 84.2% year-on-year, reaching 451,000 tonnes

In May, steel imports into Turkey fell by 16.4% year-on-year to 1.58 million tonnes, whilst their value decreased by 18.2% year-on-year to $1.04 billion. However, for January–May, total imports remained at last year’s level, with a slight increase of 0.5% year-on-year to 7.5 million tonnes, although in monetary terms they fell by 3.7% year-on-year – to $5.1 billion.

In the first five months of the year, imports of flat steel fell by 4.8% year-on-year – to 3.45 million tonnes, whilst imports of long steel fell by 5.3% year-on-year to 598,000 tonnes. Imports of semi-finished products, by contrast, rose by 7.7% year-on-year – to 3.5 million tonnes.

The TCUD also noted that, due to the introduction of the EU’s new quota regime, which came into force on 1 July, total steel imports into the bloc will be significantly reduced. However, Turkey has been allocated an individual quota of 2.86 million tonnes, representing 15.6% of the total EU quota volume. According to the association’s forecasts, taking into account shipments within the quota under the free trade agreement, total exports of Turkish steel to the European Union are expected to exceed 3 million tonnes.

As reported by GMK Center, Turkish steelmakers increased steel production by 3.3% in 2025 compared with 2024, reaching 38.12 million tonnes. Pig iron production in the country fell by 4.6% year-on-year last year, to 9.71 million tonnes.