Turkish steel scrap imports rise 7% in October

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest data released by Turkish trade statistics suggests sharp year-on-year rise in steel scrap import volumes by the country during the month of October this year.

The imports in Oct ’16 totaled 1.236 million tons. When compared with the imports during the same month a year before, the Oct ’16 imports were sharply higher by nearly 7%. The Turkish ferrous scrap imports had totaled 1.155 million tons during October 2015. However, when compared with the previous month, the imports during October this year were down by 10.3%. The country had imported 1.384 million tons in September this year. The monthly imports were valued at USD $283.096 million. The unit import price was up by nearly 2% from USD 224.6 per ton a month before to USD 229.0 per ton in October.

The cumulative steel scrap imports by the country during the initial ten-month period of the year totaled 14.155 million tons. The imports were up by 7.2% over the previous year. During the corresponding ten-month period in 2015, Turkey had imported 13.204 million tons of ferrous scrap. The scrap imports by the country averaged at 1.416 million tons per month. Going by the current trend, the country’s ferrous scrap imports for the whole year 2016 is expected to total around 16.990 million tons. The imports during this period amounted to USD 3.142 billion. The average import price declined significantly by over 20% from USD 277.9 per ton during Jan-Oct ’15 to USD 222.0 per ton this year.

The largest exporter of steel scrap to Turkey during the initial ten-month period of the year was the US. The imports from the US dropped by nearly 9% month-on-month to 2.688 million tons. The country accounted for almost one-fifth of the total imports by Turkey during this period. The second largest supplier was Russia. The imports from Russia surged higher by almost 10% over the previous month to total 2.270 million tons. In third place was the UK with 2.038 million tons. The imports from the UK were up marginally by 2.7% over the corresponding ten-month period in 2015.

Meantime, the latest statistics published by the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD) indicates that steel imports plunged by 23% to 1.25 million metric tons during the month of October. The imports from China plummeted by nearly 63% year-on-year to 133,160 metric tons. The billets imports from China too dropped considerably by 95% year-on-year to 10,600 metric tons. The country’s semi-finished steel imports totaled 415,500 metric tons, down 38.5% year-on-year. Also, the imports of flat steel products registered 13% decline year-on-year to total 626,400 metric tons.

The Turkish steel imports totaled 15.2 million metric tons during January to October this year, nearly 4% lower when matched with the previous year. The imports from China during this period have declined by 7% to 2.16 million metric tons, mainly on account of the sharp fall during the month of October. The semi-finished steel imports dropped sharply by 18% to 5.48 million metric tons during the ten-month period. On the other hand, flat steel imports recorded marginal rise of 5.3% during the first ten months of the year to 7.37 million metric tons.

The Turkish steel export volume totaled 1.4 million metric tons in October. During the first ten months of the year, the country’s steel export volume totaled 14.59 million metric tons, said TCUD data.