Turkey: Billet imports increase 28% on month in Jul'21 on firm demand

Turkey's billet imports regained momentum in Jul'21 following a slowdown in the previous month. Import volumes recorded a significant 28% rise, m-o-m, in Jul to 0.41 million tonnes (mn t) compared to 0.32 mn t in Jun, data maintained with SteelMint shows.

Firm demand for semi-finished steel in Turkey is one major reason for a significant increase in billet import volumes, SteelMint understands.

Russia leading exporter

Russia continued to be the leading exporter of steel billets to Turkey at 0.29 mn t in Jul, witnessing a considerable increase of 26%, m-o-m, as against 0.23 mn t in Jun.

Indonesia, surprisingly, emerged as the second-largest exporter of steel billets to Turkey in Jul with 0.05 mn t followed by Algeria and Ukraine with 0.04 mn t and 0.01 mn t, respectively.

Importantly, Ukraine, which was among the top three steel billet exporters to Turkey in Jun, witnessed a m-o-m decline of 75% in import volumes in Jul.

On the other hand, Turkey was seen exploring new markets like Algeria, Qatar, Oman and Indonesia for billet imports.

SteelMint's price assessment for Turkey billet (120mm, 3SP) imports fell to $666.5/t CFR Turkey towards end-Jun after peaking to $706.5/t CFR in mid-May.

Turkey's billet imports up y-o-y in Jan-Jul'21

Imports of billets into Turkey stood at 3.14 mn t in the Jan-Jul'21 period, a significant increase of 40% compared to 2.24 mn t in Jan-Jul'20.

Russia was the largest exporter with 1.78 mn t followed by Ukraine and Algeria with 0.69 mn t and 0.16 mn t, respectively. Imports from Russia and Ukraine were up 48% and 8% on year, respectively.