Turkey is looking for new destinations to export its steel amid a revival in the global steel product trading market in June, according to the Turkish Exporters Association (CIB).
Turkish steel has faced a challenging exports market in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the CIB indicated that demand is now increasing in Southeast Asia, West Africa and Latin America–all markets that are viewed by Turkey as promising destinations to export steel.
Protectionist measures taken by traditional export regions such as the European Union are prompting Turkish exporters to look at new avenues to sell their material, according to Adnan Aslan, chairman, CIB. In Jan-May 2020, Turkey shipped 2.3mn mt of steel products to Europe versus 3.5mn mt in Jan-May 2019. The 1.2mn mt decrease, according to Aslan, was because of the “unfair protectionist measures” taken by the region against Turkey.
In Jan-May 2020, steel exports from Turkey decreased by 17.8pc as compared to the same period in 2019, according to Aslan. Turkish companies exported 21.2mn mt of steel products in 2019 (50pc were longs, 27pc flats, 10pc tubes and pipes, 6pc billet and slab, 7pc other products).