Turkish ferrous scrap imports recorded a total of 18.82 million tonnes (mnt) in CY’23, reflecting a 9% decrease compared to the 20.71 mnt reported during the same period in the previous year, according to data compiled by BigMint.
For the month of December 2023, scrap imports amounted to 1.66 mnt, indicating a 6% increase from the 1.56 mnt recorded in the preceding month. Moreover, on an annualised basis, imports showed a notable surge of 32%, surpassing the 1.26 mnt reported in December 2022.
Country-wise shipments
Imports from UK decreased by 29% y-o-y: Scrap imports from the UK into Turkiye experienced a significant decrease of 29%, totaling 1.28 mnt in 2023, compared to the 1.81 mnt reported in the previous year. However, in December 2023, imports surged by a remarkable 100%, reaching 0.08 mnt, up from 0.04 mnt in November. Nevertheless, when compared to December 2022, import volumes witnessed a decline of 38%, falling from 0.13 mnt.
Imports from the US rise by 14% y-o-y: Scrap imports from the United States to Turkiye saw a notable rise of 14%, reaching 4.5 mnt in 2023, compared to 3.95 mnt in the previous year (CY’22). Conversely, there was a m-o-m decline of 13% in December, dropping from 0.46 mnt in November to 0.4 mnt. Nevertheless, on a y-o-y basis, imports surged by 38%, notably exceeding the 0.29 mnt reported in December 2022.
Imports from Belgium up 2% y-o-y: Turkish mills imported approximately 1.51 mnt of ferrous scraps from Belgium in 2023, marking a 2% increase compared to the 1.48 mnt recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. In December 2023, scrap imports doubled on both a month-on-month m-o-m and y-o-y basis, rising from 0.04 mnt in November 2023 to 0.08 mnt, as well as compared to December 2022.
Semi-finish and finished steel updates
Billet imports: Turkiye’s steel billet imports rose by 20% y-o-y to 5.80 mnt in CY’23 as against 4.83 mnt in the year-ago period, as per Customs data. Russia was the major exporter with 2.95 mnt followed by Algeria with 547,499 t. However, import volumes dropped by 23% m-o-m to 387,921 t in December from 501,034 t in November.
Rebar exports: Turkiye’s rebar exports dipped by 36% y-o-y to 4.35 mnt in CY’23 as against 6.80 mnt in the year-ago period, as per Customs data. Israel was the top importer at 1.02 mnt followed by Yemen at 783,953 t during the period. However, import volumes rose by 21% m-o-m to 472,284 t in December from 390,678 t in November.
Key updates
Crude steel production down 4% y-o-y: Turkiye’s crude steel production stood at 33.7 mnt in CY’23, reflecting a decline of 4% compared to CY’22, as per World Steel Association (WSA) data.
Lira: The value of the Turkish lira dropped to 29.47 in November from 28.88 in October.
Outlook
In the near term, scrap imports are likely to remain under pressure with limited deals due to the subdued domestic finished steel market coupled with elevated offers from sellers due to higher collection costs in winter.
