Turkey: Ferrous Scrap Imports Up by 10% Q-o-Q in Q1 CY20

Turkish ferrous scrap imports witnessed an uptick by 10% Q-o-Q to 5.27 MnT in Q1'20 as compared to 4.81 MnT in Q4'19. On a yearly basis too, the same has increased by 35% as it imported 3.89 MnT during the same period in Q1'19.

United States remained the largest supplier to Turkey which supplied 0.98 MnT of scrap in Q1'20 with a 19% share of total scrap imported by Turkey, fall by 85% Q-o-Q, as against 1.15 MnT in Q4'19. Another prominent scrap supplier was Netherlands which supplied 0.80 MnT scrap in Q1'20 with a 15% share.

Turkish imports of coal, iron ore and finished flat steel fall slightly on a quarterly basis, while, semi-finished and finished long products imports move up in Q1'20.

Iron ore: Turkey iron ore imports in the first quarter CY20 witnessed at 2.14 MnT, down 2% as against 2.19 MnT in Q1CY'19. Brazil stood the largest exporter of iron ore to Turkey at 1.18 MnT (down 13% M-o-M) as against 1.36 MnT in Q4 CY19. Sweden's iron ore exports stood at 0.48 MnT followed by Russia at 0.22 MnT. Imports from India witnessed at 0.08 MnT for the quarter as against being 0.06 MnT in Q4 CY19.

Coal: Coal Imports Down by 16% Q-o-Q in Q1 CY20 after witnessing a late surge towards the end of CY19 amid restrictions on domestic lignite usage, Turkish imports have receded in the first quarter of CY20.

Imports decreased by 16% to 11.01 MnT in Q1 CY20 compared with 13.03 MnT in Q4 CY19. However, it had jumped 12% Y-o-Y from 9.87 MnT in Q1 CY19 supported by a higher intake of non-coking coal. A grade-wise break up showed that non-coking coal imports had come down 21% Q-o-Q to 8.36 MnT in Q1 CY20, but was noted 18% higher on the year from 7.06 MnT in Q1 CY19. No major improvement was seen in imports of other coal commodities, except pet coke, which had increased 65% Q-o-Q to 1.04 MnT in Q1 CY20.

Major Coal Exporters Of the total intake in Q1 CY20, Turkey's chief supplier-Colombia contributed 5.4 MnT coal, more than 36% that was recorded in the year-ago period. Although, the volume was down 11% Q-o-Q from 6.06 MnT in Q4 CY19. Coal supplies from Russia also increased 9% Y-o-Y to 3.3 MnT in Q1 CY20, but had fallen by 29% than the volume procured in the previous quarter.

Semi-Finished: The country's semi-finished steel imports witnessed a growth by14% Q-o-Q to 1.48 MnT in Q1'20 as compared to 1.3 MnT of imports were recorded in Q4'19. On a yearly basis too, semi-finished imports sharply increased by 48% Y-o-Y from 1 MnT scrap imported in the same period in the preceding year, Q1'19. Russia remains the largest supplier to Turkey as it exported 0.71 MnT of semi-finished steel in Q1'20 witnessed an increase by 16% on a quarterly basis as against 0.61 MnT semi-finish steel exported in Q4'19.

Finished long: Finished long imports have observed a slight increase of 6% on a quarterly basis to Turkey. As it imported 0.18 MnT in Q1'20 as compared to 0.17 MnT of finished long steels in Q4'19. On a yearly basis, finish long imports decreased by 10% Y-o-Y as against 0.2 MnT during the same period in the preceding year. Spain supplied the largest quantity of finish long steel at 0.07 MnT in Q1'20, witnessing a sharp fall by 22% Q-o-Q as against 0.09 MnT exported in Q4'19. Another prominent supplier was the United Kingdom supplied a decent quantity of finish long steel in Q1'20.

Finished Flat: The Turkish finish flat imports declined by 8% in (Jan-Mar) Q1 CY'20 to 1.85 MnT when compared with 2.00 MnT in the preceding quarter. The flat steel demand in the country started weakening towards the latter half of Jan'20 with the increase in COVID-19 pandemic related barriers, and containment related restrictions at the beginning of Mar'20.

Meanwhile, the nation also restricted the movement of goods and people from the nations having high infection rates, which has contributed to the decline in the import volume during the quarter. However, on a monthly comparison, the nation's finish flat imports stood at 0.44 MnT in Mar'20, plunging by 33% in contrast with 0.66 MnT a month earlier.

On the country-wise front, import volume from Russia slipped by 56% to 0.08 MnT in Mar'20 when compared with 0.18 MnT in Feb'20. Imports from South Korea remained consistent at 0.1 MnT in both Feb and Mar'20. Import figures from Ukraine fell drastically by 70% to 0.03 MnT in Mar'20 in contrast with 0.1 MnT a month ago. Following this, imports from France stood at 0.04 MnT, Belgium at 0.02 MnT, and Germany at 0.04 MnT in Mar'20.

According to the World Steel Association, Turkish crude steel output slightly increased by 6% Q-o-Q in Q1'20 and stood at 8.97 MnT, as compared to 8.46 MnT output were recorded in Q4'19.

Quantity in MnT
Source: SteelMint Stats and Customs Data