Turkey: Ferrous Scrap Imports Down by 33% in Oct’19

Turkey-world’s largest ferrous scrap importer has observed a sharp decrease in ferrous scrap, iron ore and semi finished steel imports in Oct’19. Whereas, finish flat & long imports remained stable in the month and coal imports have increased. According to the World Steel Association, Turkish crude steel output remained stable in Oct’19 at 2.69 MnT as compared to 2.73 MnT registered in Sept’19.

Ferrous Scrap: Turkish ferrous scrap imports witnessed a sharp decrease by 33% M-o-M to 1.14 MnT in Oct’19 as compared to 1.7 MnT in Sept’19. Meanwhile, on a yearly premise, the same has observed as it imported 1.71 MnT during the same period a year ago.  United States remained the largest supplier to Turkey which supplied 0.37 MnT scrap in Oct’19 with a 32% share of total scrap imported by Turkey, up 14% M-o-M, as against 0.43 MnT in Sept’19. Followed by the Netherlands which exported 0.14 MnT scrap in Oct ’19 with a 12% share and down by 33% M-o-M.

Iron ore: Turkey’s iron ore imports in Oct’19 witnessed at 0.74 MnT, down 5% against 0.78 MnT in Sep’19. On a yearly basis, imports dropped against 1.23 MnT in Oct’18. Turkey imports from Brazil dropped for the month by 10% to 0.44 MnT as compared to 0.49 MnT a month ago. Imports from Brazil dropped amid material availability crises. The largest iron ore miner- Vale on 11th Nov reduced iron ore and pellet sales guidance to 307-312 MnT for 2019 amid dealing with the aftermath of the Brumadinho dam disaster of Jan’19. Imports from Sweden marked 0.15 MnT followed by Russia at 0.1 MnT.

Coal: Turkish coal imports have increased by 20% on the month to attain a 15-month high total during Oct’19. Intake by the country was marked 4.14 MnT in Oct’19 as against 3.44 MnT in Oct’19, coal volume had also
recorded modest y-o-y growth compared with 4.08 MnT in Oct’18. Apparently, increased demand for non-coking coal had paved the way for higher imports during the month. Coal receipt from Turkey’s largest supplier-Colombia, surged 29% M-o-M to 1.85 MnT, while intake from Russia grew 11% on the month to 1.58 MnT in Oct’19. However, a reduced appetite for coking coal resulted in a decline in coal intake from US which had fell 21% M-o-M to 0.3 MnT during the month.

Semi Finish: The country’s semi finished steel imports remained stable M-o-M in Oct’19 at 0.3 MnT in as compared to 0.38 MnT of imports reported in Sept’19. On a yearly basis, semi-finished imports marginally increased by 7% Y-o-Y from 0.28 MnT scrap imported during the same period in a year ago, Oct’18. Russia remained largest supplier with 57% share of total semi finished steel imported by Turkey as it exported 0.17 MnT in Oct’19, decreasing by 15% on a monthly basis as against 0.20 MnT exported in Sept’19. Another major exporter was Brazil which exported 0.5 MnT in Oct’19 as compared to 0.10 MnT in Sept’19, decreasing by 50% M-o-M.

Finish Flat: On a monthly premise, the nation’s imports of Flat steel remained stable in Nov’19 at 0.63 MnT, owing to improved demand in the Turkish domestic market. Further, imports from Russia surged by 50% to 0.18 MnT, while the same tumbled by 11% from France to 0.08 MnT, and that from Ukraine plunged by 40% to 0.03 MnT in Nov’19 on a monthly premise.

Finish Long: Finish long imports to Turkey have observed stability on a monthly basis, as it imported 0.04 MnT each in Sept & Oct’19. On a yearly basis, imports have slightly decreased by 20% from 0.05 MnT during the same period a year ago. Spain & Russia exported the same quantity of finish long products in Oct’19 at 0.01 MnT each, remaining exports stable on a monthly basis from similar quantity supplied a month back in Sept’19.

Quantity in MT
Source: SteelMint Stats & Customs Data