Ferrous Scrap Imports by Turkey Soared 21% in April

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest trade data published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) indicates that ferrous scrap imports by the country surged higher significantly during the month of April, when compared with the imports during the same month a year before. The combined imports during the initial four months of 2017 also registered improvement over the corresponding period in 2016.

Turkey’s imports of ferrous scrap totaled 1.667 million tons in April this year, which is higher by 21.1% over the same month a year before. It must be noted that Turkish scrap imports had totaled only 1.377 million tons in April 2016. The scrap imports were valued at US$ 452.46 million in April 2017. The import prices averaged at US$ 271.3 per ton, declining marginally by 0.4% when compared with the average import price of US$ 272.5 per ton in March 2017.

The largest supplier of ferrous scrap to Turkey in April 2017 was the UK. The imports from the UK totaled 271,000 tons, accounting for more than 16% of total imports by Turkey during the month. The scrap imports from the UK surged higher by almost 96% when matched with the imports during the same month a year before. In second place was the Netherlands with 239,000 tons. The imports from Netherlands skyrocketed by 106% over the previous year. The third largest exporter of scrap to Turkey was Belgium. The imports from Belgium increased recede marginally by 2% year-on-year to 215,000 tons. Turkey’s scrap imports from the US registered notable decline during the month. The US scrap exports to Turley were down by 31.2% over the year to total 170,000 tons in April 2017.

The scrap imports during the initial four months of the year totaled 5.927 million tons, higher by over 7% when matched with the corresponding four-month period in 2016. Turkey’s scrap imports had totaled 5.529 million tons during Jan-Apr ’16. The imports averaged at 1.482 million tons per month so far this year. Going by the current rate, the annual scrap imports by Turkey are likely to total around 17.780 million tons. The imports during the first four months of the year were valued at US$ 1.59 billion. Also, the imports were averaged at US$ 268.0 per ton. The top three exporters during this period were the US (979,000 tons), the UK (857,000 tons) and the Netherlands (840,000 tons).

Turkish scrap imports had totaled 1.74 million tons in March this year. The monthly imports had declined by over 6% when compared with the imports during the same month in 2016. The imports were valued at US$ 474.6 million.

The Turkish ferrous scrap imports had totaled 17.72 million tonnes in 2016. The largest exporter of scrap to Turkey in 2016 was the US. The imports from the US totaled 3.26 million tonnes. The second largest exporter of scrap to Turkey was the UK. The imports from the UK surged higher significantly by 6.1% year-on-year to total 2.61 million tonnes. In third place was Russia with 2.53 million tonnes. The Turkish ferrous scrap imports from Russia were up by nearly 5% in 2016. The top three sources of imported scrap by Turkey accounted for 47% share of the country’s total scrap imports during the entire year 2016.