Turkish companies decreased their metallics imports by 10pc to 1.59mn mt in 2020 in favor of ferrous scrap bookings.
Of the total metallics imports, pig iron shipments to Turkey declined by 8.2pc to 1.13mn mt last year compared with 2019, according to statistical source SteelData. Imports from the CIS region, traditionally the main supplier to Turkey, made up 80.9pc of the country’s total imports of the material.
Russia decreased its pig iron shipments to Turkey by 14.3pc to 643,000mt during the period under review, while Ukraine increased its supply of the material by 19.4pc to 272,000mt.
Turkey’s pig iron imports from Germany, Brazil, and Canada totaled 89,000mt, 77,000mt, and 25,000mt, respectively, in 2020.
Imports of Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) into Turkey dropped by 14.3pc to 458,000mt last year compared with 2019, according to SteelData. Libya, a key supplier, increased its shipments by over three times to 207,000mt. HBI imports from the USA also rose by 23.8pc to 136,000mt but decreased by 58.4pc to 114,000mt from Russia, which was the main supplier in 2019.
In December 2020, Turkey imported 70,000mt of pig iron and 67,000mt of HBI.