Billet exports from Turkey declined by 59.7pc to 406,000mt in the first seven months of 2020 amid sluggish demand for the material.
Morocco remained the only promising destination for billet this year, with shipments to the North African country increasing by 27pc to 224,000mt in January-July 2020, compared with the same period last year, according to statistical source SteelData.
Exports of semis to Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Egypt dropped by 75.6pc, 48.2pc, and 91.3pc to 51,000mt, 33,000mt and 15,000mt, respectively, all compared with the first seven months of 2019.
This year, Turkey began billet sales to Peru and shipped 30,000mt of the material in January-July 2020. The country stopped exporting billet to Taiwan, Nigeria, Malaysia, and Guatemala.
During the period under review, SteelData noted that Turkish companies increased billet import by 3.6pc to 998,000mt compared with the first seven months of 2019. Billet import from Russia rose by 3.5pc to 611,000mt in January-July 2020 compared with January-July 2019, and its import from Ukraine increased by 33.2pc to 303,000mt during the same period under comparison.