Turkey, the world’s leading ferrous scrap importer, witnessed a sharp rise in imports of the material by 24% y-o-y to 12.4 million tons (mn t) in the Jan-Jun’21 period in contrast to 9.8 mn t seen in the same period last year, as per data compiled by SteelMint.
Strong finished steel demand, manufacturing activity and rise in Turkish crude steel output kept Turkey’s scrap imports on the higher side, SteelMint understands.
However, on a m-o-m basis, scrap imports remained stable at 1.96 mn t in Jun’21.
US major scrap supplier in H1CY’21: The US continued as the top exporter to Turkey at 1.8 mn t in H1 CY’21 followed by the Netherland at 1.7 mn t and the UK at 1.4 mn t respectively. The US and Netherland both increased tonnages and headed the list of sellers.
The higher exports from the US were sustained by the positive outlook in the overseas steel market and the manufacturing sector which allowed the country’s steel mills to achieve sustained growth in sales.
Factors supporting higher import volumes
- Increase in steel production: Turkey’s crude steel output jumped a strong 18% y-o-y to 3.4 mn t in Jun’21, as per the World Steel Association (WSA). In H1CY’21, Turkey produced 19.7 mn t, a rise of 21% y-o-y.
- Automotive sales hit 4-year high: Sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in Turkey increased by 12.5% to 79,819 units in Jun’21, as per the Automotive Distributors Association (ODD).
- Strong rebar exports: Higher demand from Israel, Singapore and Yemen notably supported Turkish mills’ rebar exports, which reached 4.35 mn t in H1CY’21, up 28% y-o-y.
Outlook
It is expected that imported scrap volumes and bookings may go down due to weak finished steel demand in the domestic and overseas markets amid bid-offer disparities.
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