Turkiye reduced import of scrap metal by 14% m/m in September 2022

In September 2022, steel companies of Turkiye reduced the import of scrap metal by 13.9% compared to the previous month – to 1.39 million tons. SteelOrbis reports about it with the reference to the data of Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD).

On an annual basis, scrap imports to Turkiye in September 2022 decreased by 13.3%. For January-September 2022, scrap metal imports decreased by 10.5% compared to the same period in 2021 – to 16.88 million tons.

The European Union became the main supplier of scrap metal to Turkiye in 9 months of 2022. During this period, Turkish steelmakers bought 8.6 million tons of scrap from the EU, which is 12.1% less than in January-September 2021. In second place is the supply from the USA – 3.25 million tons (+1.2%). The CIS countries and Ukraine in January-September 2022 exported a total of 861,000 tons of scrap to Turkiye, which is 60.1% less than last year.

The decrease in the volume of scrap imports into the country is associated with the low workload of local steel mills. In the middle of August, Turkish steel mills were considering stoppages of production due to low demand and high costs. Such plants cannot ensure an increase in prices neither on the domestic nor on the export markets. As a result, the steel production becomes unprofitable.

From September 2022, Turkiye raised prices on electricity and gas for industry by 50%, which will further worsen the situation for local steelmakers.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2021, Turkiyr increased imports of scrap metal by 11.5% compared to 2020 – up to 25.1 million tons. CIS countries and Ukraine in 2021 exported a total of 2.65 million tons of scrap metal to Turkish steelmakers, which is 9.7% more than the previous year.

Turkiye ranks seventh in the world in terms of steel production. In 2021, Turkish enterprises increased production of steel by 12.7% compared to 2020 – up to 40 million tons. This is a record indicator.