Turkiye imported 585.2 thousand tons of iron ore from Ukraine in 2022

Turkish steelmakers reduced their purchases of Ukrainian steel by 50.6% y/y

In 2022, Turkish steel enterprises imported 585.22 thousand tons of iron ore from Ukraine, which is 50.6% less than in 2021. This is evidenced by the data of the Turkish Statistical Institute, reports SteelOrbis.

In December 2022, Ukraine did not export iron ore to Turkiye, while in December 2021, 33 thousand tons of iron ore were shipped. In general, in December 2022, Turkish steelmakers purchased raw materials only from Brazil and Sweden – 168.4 thousand tons and 165 thousand tons, respectively.

In general, in 2022, Turkiye reduced iron ore imports by 16.7% compared to 2021 – to 9.38 million tons. In December, 333.4 thousand tons of iron ore were shipped to Turkish consumers, which is 4.8% less compared to November, and by 72.7% y/y.

The main supplier of iron ore to Turkiye is Brazil (44.5% of the total volume of iron ore imports to the country). In 2022, Turkish steelmakers reduced their imports of Brazilian iron ore by 28.2% year-on-year – to 4.18 million tons. Supplies from Sweden accounted for 17.6% – the second place. During the year, Turkiye imported 1.65 million tons of Swedish iron ore, which is 5.3% more y/y. Ukraine ranks 4th in the volume of iron ore shipped to Turkish consumers – 6.2% of total imports.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2021, Turkiye almost doubled iron ore imports from Ukraine compared to 2020 – to 1.18 million tons. Ukraine’s share in the total volume of iron ore imports to Turkiye was 11%.

Also, in 2022 Ukraine reduced the export of ferrous metals by 45.9% compared to 2021 – to 23.98 million tons. In monetary terms, the indicator fell by 57.8% y/y – to $2.91 billion.

The major iron ore producers in Ukraine include: Ingulets GOK, Kryvyi Rih Iron Ore Plant, Poltava Mining, Northern GOK, Central GOK, Southern GOK, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Sukha Balka GOK and Zaporizhzhia Iron Ore Plant.