Turkey imported 411,600 mt of stainless steel coil with widths above 600 mm in the first eight months of the year, higher than the 335,000 mt imported in the same period the previous year, as stainless steel consumption in the country rose notably with the easing of the pandemic, S&P Global Platts observed from the latest monthly Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data.
The cost of these imports also rose notably to $834 million in that period, 38% higher on year, due to globally higher steel pricing.
China notably raised its share in the Turkish stainless steel market with competitive prices in that period. The country became Turkey’s top stainless flat steel supplier in January-August by shipping 155,000 mt to Turkey, 72% higher on year, the TUIK data showed.
Turkey’s stainless sheet imports from South Korea remained relatively strong at 96,600 mt in January-August, down by 10,000 mt on year.
Turkey also imported 25,400 mt of stainless steel coil from Spain in the eight-month period, while imports from Italy totaled 22,500 mt.
Turkey’s imports of stainless flat steel from Taiwan totaled 18,300 mt in January-August, the latest data showed.
Turkey’s sole stainless cold-rolling mill, Posco Assan TST, based in Izmit, Kocaeli, near Istanbul, has production capacity of 300,000 mt/ear of 0.3-3.0 mm thick stainless cold-rolled coil up to 1,600 mm wide.
— Cenk Can
