Turkish producers decreased billet export by 58.3pc to 376,000mt and increased its import by 4.4pc to 840,000mt in the first half of 2020.
Billet export from Turkey dropped significantly amid weaker demand for the material. Among key destinations, only shipments to Morocco rose by 14.4pc to 202,000mt over the period under review, according to statistical source SteelData. Export of semis to Saudi Arabia and Tunisia declined by 66.7pc and by 45.6pc to 51,000mt and 33,000mt, respectively.
At the same time, Turkish companies increased billet import amid better rebar sales in the domestic market. Billet import from Russia decreased by 1.7pc to 508,000mt in January-June 2020 compared with H1 2019, but its import from Ukraine increased by 72.2pc to 266,000mt during the same period, according to SteelData. This year, Turkey imported 26,000mt of semis from Libya, while there was no supply from this country in 2019.