Turkey- the world’s largest ferrous scrap importer, witnessed a slight rise in monthly imports by 4% to 2 mn t in Feb’21, as per data recorded with SteelMint.
Turkish scrap imports rose y-o-y in the second month of 2021 and recorded a 12% yearly increase. This is in line with the rise seen in Turkish mills’ crude steel output. It registered an increase by 6% and produced 3.0 mn t as per figures released by World Steel Association (WSA).
Turkey’s market highlights –
- Netherlands remained top supplier with 16% share in Feb’21 – Netherlands stood the top exporter of scrap to Turkey at 0.43 mn t in Feb’21 registering a two-fold increase m-o-m. USA stood second and exported 0.28 mn t to Turkey (sharply up by 47% m-o-m) in Feb’21. Next in line were Belgium and Russia with 0.19 mn t and 0.14 mn t respectively.
SteelMint’s assessment of USA origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) stood at $455/t CFR Turkey in Jan’21 and $435/t CFR in Dec’20. Prices climbed to nine-year high levels towards end Dec’20 backed by supportive finished steel demand.
- Volatility in exchange rates – Turkish Lira depreciated to 7.42 against $ by Feb-end after recovering from 6.96 levels in third week of Feb. In Mar’21, the local currency depreciated further to 8.34 against $.
Driven by a sustainable long steel demand both domestically and overseas, Turkish mills continued to express strong interest in imported billet purchases. The country has imported almost 0.5 mn t of billet in Feb’21, registering a 83% hike y-o-y, in contrast with 0.28 mn t in Feb’20.
- Increase in Automotive sales and light commercial vehicles – In Feb’21, sales of automotive were highest in last ten years and grew by 24.2% y-o-y to 58,504 vehicles, as per Automotive Distributors’ Association (ODD).
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