Turkiye: Ferrous scrap imports down 12% m-o-m in Feb'24 amid dip in crude steel output

In February, Turkish ferrous scrap imports dropped by 12% m-o-m to 1.63 million tonnes (mnt) from 1.86 mnt in January. Furthermore, on an annualised basis, scrap imports recorded a 33% increase compared to the 1.23 mnt observed during the same period last year.

Country-wise shipments

Imports from the US drop 50% m-o-m: Scrap imports from the US saw a sharp drop of 50% m-o-m to 0.18 mnt in February from 0.36 mnt in the previous month. Similarly, on a y-o-y basis, import volumes are also down by 36% as compared to February 2023's 0.28 mnt.

Imports from Belgium down 33%: Scrap imports from Belgium into Turkiye witnessed a drop of 33% to 0.16 mnt in February from 0.24 mnt in the preceding month. However, compared to February 2023's 0.06 mnt, imports surged by 167%.

Imports from the Netherlands rise 15% m-o-m: Turkish mills imported approximately 0.31 mnt of scrap from the Netherlands in February, reflecting a notable increase of 15% compared to 0.27 mnt in January. However, on an annual basis, imports experienced an increase of 63% compared to 0.19 mnt during the same period last year.

Semi-finished, finished steel market updates

Billet imports: Turkiye's steel billet imports were down by 15% m-o-m in February to 464,099 t from 548,632 t in January, as per Customs data maintained by BigMint. Malaysia was the major exporter with 140,227 t followed by Russia with 91,975 t. Meanwhile, import volumes increased by 14% y-o-y compared to 407,147 t in the year-ago period.

Rebar exports: Turkiye's rebar exports increased by 34% to 465,235 t in February compared to 347,516 t in January, as per Customs data maintained by BigMint. Meanwhile, export volumes increased by 72% y-o-y compared to 270,269 t in the year-ago period. In finished long exports, Romania was the largest importer with 101,313 t, followed by Israel with 41,320 t.

Key updates

Crude steel production down 5% m-o-m: Turkiye's crude steel production stood at 3.08 mnt in February, reflecting a slight decrease of 5% compared to 3.25 mnt in January, as per World Steel Association (WSA) data.

Lira: The value of the Turkish lira dropped to 31.29 in February from 30.36 in December.