According to the data released by the Turkish Steel Exporters' Association, in the first 5 months of the current year, Turkey's steel exports totaled 7.9 million tonnes down 6.9% YoY while the value of these exports decreased by 5.4% YoY to USD 5.9 billion.
Meanwhile, in May this year Turkey's steel exports amounted to 1.6 million tonnes and the value of these exports increased by 1.5% YoY to USD 1.28 billion.
In the first five months, Turkey's main steel export destination was the Middle East, which received a total of 2.88 million tonnes while Turkish steel exports to the EU amounted to 1.47 million tonnes. Turkey exported 907,000 tonnes of steel to North Africa and 810,000 tonnes to North America in the given period.
On country basis, in the given period Turkey's main steel export destinations were Iraq, the US and the UAE with 932,000 tonnes, 678,000 tonnes and 573,000 tonnes respectively. The largest YoY increases in Turkish steel exports were recorded to the US, the UK, Israel, Morocco and the Netherlands, while the largest decreases were seen in export volumes to Saudi Arabia, Italy, Iraq, Oman and Libya.
On the other hand, in the first five months of this year, Turkey's main exported steel product was rebar with total rebar exports amounting to 3.45 million tonnes. Rebar was followed by steel pipe exports totaling 832,000 tonnes, steel section exports amounting to 800,000 tonnes and 702,000 tonnes of hot rolled flat steel product exports.
Mr Namik Ekinci chairman of Turkish Steel Exporters' Association said that “In 2014, the Turkish steel sector is progressing in a cautious manner. We have started to compensate for the losses we had in the previous year, which occurred due to difficult operating conditions. At the end of this year, we expect Turkish steel exports to increase compared to 2013, reaching the goal of 18.5 million tonnes."
Source - STEELORBIS.COM
