Turkish producers decreased billet exports by 61.4pc to 408,000mt in the January-August 2020 amid challenging sales.
Shipments of semis from Turkey increased only to Morocco – by 16.9pc to 224,000mt over the period under review, according to latest figures from SteelData. Exports to Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Egypt and Ethiopia dropped by 75.6pc, by 48.2pc, by 92.4pc and by 86.1pc to 51,000mt, 33,000mt, 15,000mt and 12,000mt, respectively.
Turkey’s billet export is under pressure amid sluggish demand. Notably, in August of this year, the country shipped only 2,000mt of semis, the lowest monthly volume since the last 25 years. All of these tonnages were exported to European countries.
At the same time Turkish companies decreased billet import by 4.7pc to 1.1mn mt in the first eight months of 2020, according to SteelData. Imports from Russia declined by 6.7pc to 652,000mt during this period, while imports from Ukraine and Belarus increased by 12.4pc and by 13.4pc to 313,000mt and 23,000mt, respectively.