Türkiye imported 21 thousand tons of steel billets from Ukraine in January

In January 2024, Türkiye imported 20.97 thousand tons of steel billets from Ukraine. In January 2023, Turkish steelmakers did not import any such products. The last time Ukrainian products were imported was in November 2023. This is reported by SteelOrbis with reference to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).

The total volume of steel billets imported to Türkiye in January 2024 amounted to 191.16 thousand tons, up 2.5% month-on-month, and down 47.5% compared to January 2023. At the same time, the value of imports increased by 7.8% month-on-month and decreased by 40.8% y/y – to $108.92 mln.

The main suppliers of products to Türkiye, except Ukraine, are Russia – 59.86 thsd tonnes (-53% y/y) and Saudi Arabia – 51.49 thsd tonnes (not imported in January 2023). The Russian Federation accounted for 31% of the total imports, Saudi Arabia – 27%, and Ukraine – 11%. Another 20 thsd tonnes (-59.4% y/y) of billets were exported to Türkiye by Algeria (10%).

In 2023, Türkiye increased imports of billets by 22% compared to 2022 – up to 3.07 mln tons. The value of imports increased by 6.8% y/y – to $1.8 billion. The Russian Federation shipped 1.39 million tons of products (-7.3% y/y), Algeria–- 547.5 thousand tons (+392%), Oman – 251.5 thousand tons (+1.6%). Last year, Ukraine shipped 67.13 thousand tons (-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 Türkiye, if there is such demand.

Overall, in January 2024, Ukraine exported 222.2 thousand tons of semi-finished products, up 2.2 times compared to the previous month and 5.8 times yoy. Turkey accounted for 9.4% of total exports.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Türkiye ranks eighth in the world in terms of steel production. In 2023, Turkish steelmakers reduced steel production by 14% compared to 2022, to 33.7 million tons.