Turkey steel exports rose 20% to a record 19.9 million mt in 2021, the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD) said Feb. 3, with higher prices meaning revenue was up 93% to to $16.5 billion in 2021.
Overall finished steel consumption in Turkey increased 13% in 2021 to 33.4 million mt.
Steel imports, meanwhile, rose 23% in 2021 to 15.4 million mt, with the cost of imports up 86% to $14.4 billion, TCUD said.
Highlighting the share of imports in domestic steel consumption in 2021, TCUD general secretary Veysel Yayan said the EU and US’s combined share of Turkey’s overall exports declined to 34% in 2021 from 40% in 2020 due to protection measures in those regions.
“As the Turkish steel sector focused on new markets in 2021 in this sentiment, mills’ export volumes to Latin America and South East Asia markets showed considerable increases,” Yayan said, adding that China’s absence in Southeast Asian markets also supported Turkish exports in 2021.
— Cenk Can