Türkiye reduced scrap imports by 22.4% y/y in May

In May 2023, Turkish steel companies reduced the import of scrap by 22.4% compared to May 2022 – to 1.73 million tons. This is evidenced by the data of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), reports Kallanish.

More than 98% or 1.709 million tons of May imports were obsolete grades of scrap. The average price of this raw material was at the level of $450/t against $616/t in May 2022 and $441/t in April 2023.

The United States was the largest supplier in May – 485.8 thousand tons, which is 1.5% less y/y. The Netherlands shipped 121.9 thousand tons of scrap to Turkiye (-35.5% y/y), Germany – 109.8 thousand tons (+34.3% y/y), Belgium – 104.1 thousand tons (-32.6% y/y), Great Britain – 78.4 thousand tons (-2 times y/y).

In January-May 2023, the import of scrap to Turkiye fell by 22.8% compared to the same period of the previous year – to 8.41 million tons. In the second place is the Netherlands, in third – Belgium.

At the same time, Turkish rebar exports more than halved in January-May to 1.07 million tons.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2022, Türkiye reduced imports of scrap by 16.5% compared to 2021 – to 20.93 million tons. The decrease in the volume of scrap imports into the country was due to the low workload of local steel mills in the second half of 2022.

Turkiye ranks eighth in the world in terms of steel production. In 2022, Turkish enterprises reduced production of steel by 12.9% compared to 2021 – to 35.1 million tons.