Turkey, world’s largest ferrous scrap importer, has observed a decline in its scrap import by 32% m-o-m in May’20. The country imported 1.16 mn t in May’20 against 1.72 mn t in Apr’20. On the other hand, scrap import volume declined significantly by 36% y-o-y as it imported 1.81 mn t during the same period a year ago in May’19.
USA, one of the leading scrap suppliers to Turkey with 28% of total share in its scrap imported by Turkey. The country supplied 0.32 mn t in May’20 in comparison to 0.36 mn t in Apr’20 witnessed a fall by 10% m-o-m. Similarly, on a y-o-y basis, the scrap import volume increased by 6% in May’20 as it has imported 0.30 mn t from the USA in May’19. Other major exporters such as Russia and Denmark exported 0.10 mn t and 0.09 mn t respectively in May’20.
Turkish imports of coal, iron ore, semi finished and finished flat were increased in May ’20. Whereas imports of finish long have been declined in the month.
Iron Ore: Turkey iron ore imports in May’20 witnessed at 0.88 mn t, up 22% as against 0.72 mn t imported in Apr’20. Brazil stood the largest exporter of iron ore for the month at 0.58 mn t, up against 0.24 mn t in Apr’20. Imports from Brazil improved for the month amid easing supply concerns from Vale.
Sweden stood the second-largest iron ore exporter to Turkey at 0.17 mn t, down 48% m-o-m as against 0.33 mn t in Apr’20 followed by Russia exported at 0.1 mn t.
Coal: Turkish coal imports have increased 5% m-o-m to 2.51 mn t in May’20 against 2.4 mn t imported in Apr’20. However, the volume was down by 25% y-o-y from 3.35 mn t in May’19. An improvement was seen in thermal coal intake which rebounded after falling in the previous month but was assessed significantly lower than the levels attained in the same month a year ago. Incidentally, the country had bought 1.78 mn t of non-coking coal during May’20, which dropped 15% y-o-y from 2.09 mn t imported in May’19.
Colombia remained the largest coal supplier as it exported 1.27 mn t in May’20 followed by Russia and the USA. While, supplies from Colombia and USA recovered after falling in Apr’20, volume taken from Russia decreased 12% m-o-m to 0.75 mn t in May’20.
Semi Finished: Turkey’s semi finished imports observed a sharp increase by 67% m-o-m. The country imported 0.26 mn t of semi finished in May’20 in comparison to 0.15 mn t in Apr’20. On a yearly basis too, imports have declined by 13% y-o-y from 0.3 mn t imported during the same period in Apr ’19.
Russia remained the leading supplier to Turkey with a share of 11% in total scrap imported by Turkey, as it exported 0.13 mn t in May’20 witnessed a drastic increase by 154% m-o-m against 0.05 mn t in Apr’20. Other prominent exporter was Ukraine, which exported 0.07 mn t in May’20 and Apr’20 raised marginally by 3% m-o-m.
Finished Flat: The country’s finished flat imports increased significantly by 42% m-o-m, however, declined by 23% y-o-y to 0.47 mn t in May’20. On country-wise imports from Russia increased by 40% m-o-m to 0.07 mn t, while that from South Korea were significantly up by 60% m-o-m to 0.08 mn t during the month. Meanwhile, imports from Ukraine have increased considerably by 167% m-o-m to 0.08 mn t in May’20.
Finished Long: The country’s finished long steel imports decreased by 23% m-o-m. Turkey’s import volume was 0.03 mn t in May’20 against 0.05 mn t in Apr’20. On a y-o-y basis, finish long imports fell by 50% from 0.07 mn t imported a year ago in Apr’19. Spain exported at 0.01 mn t of finished long products in May’20, down by 63% m-o-m in comparison to 0.02 mn t exported a month ago in Apr’20.
Quantity in t
Source: SteelMint stats and customs data
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