Turkey's ferrous scrap import up by 18% y-o-y in CY'20

Turkey - the world's largest ferrous scrap importer, witnessed a gradual uptrend of scrap imports which continued in Dec'20. Scrap imports in CY'20 stood at 22.18 mn t, up by 18% y-o-y as per data recorded with SteelMint.

USA remained largest scrap supplier to Turkey in CY'20 at 4.37 mn t (up by 18% y-o-y), followed by Netherlands at 3.18 mn t and Russia at 2.29 mn t (both up by 22% y-o-y) in CY'20.

Similarly, on a m-o-m basis, Turkey's ferrous scrap imports increased by 11% to 2.23 mn t in Dec'20.

• Higher steel output in CY'20 -Turkey's crude steel production for CY'20 was 35.8 mn t, slightly up by 6% y-o-y, as per WSA data. With Turkey being largely dependent on scrap for steel making, high crude steel output backed by higher steel consumption boosted imports.
  
  
• Recovery in Turkey's domestic steel demand - Turkey's car and light commercial vehicle sales jumped by 61.3% y-o-y in CY'20. According to the Automotive Distributors' Association (ODD), 772,788 automobiles were sold last year.
  
  
• Prices rose in CY'20 - SteelMint's assessment of USA origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) stood at $290/t CFR Turkey in CY'20, up by 2% from $285/t CFR Turkey in CY'19.
  
  

According to bulk scrap bookings recorded by SteelMint in Nov & Dec'20, Turkey's scrap imports remained on the higher side backed by restocking ahead winters. Turkey's imported scrap prices had increased to $440/t in Dec'20.

Quantity in mn t
Source: SteelMint stats and customs data