Ferrous scrap consumption dropped by 11.8pc to 26.80mn mt in Turkey in 2019 as compared to 2018 amid lower crude steel output and a challenging sales environment that forced some companies to temporarily stop production.
Turkey produced 33.74mn mt of crude steel in 2019 compared with 37.31mn mt in the previous year. The lower output resulted in ferrous scrap imports decreasing by 8.7pc to 18.86mn mt, purchases from the local market also dropped by 18.4pc to 7.94mn mt, according to Turkish statistical source SteelData.
Of the top five ferrous scrap suppliers, USA and the Netherlands, increased shipments to Turkey in 2019, while United Kingdom, Russia, and Belgium decreased their exports, as illustrated in the table below:
Top 5 ferrous scrap suppliers to Turkey in 2019
| Country | 2018 | 2019 | Change |
| USA | 3.705 | 3.838 | 3.6pc |
| Netherlands | 2.318 | 2.598 | 12.1pc |
| United Kingdom | 2.648 | 2.190 | -17.3pc |
| Russia | 2.518 | 1.881 | -25.3pc |
| Belgium | 1.911 | 1.304 | -31.8pc |
| Others | 7.560 | 7.046 | -6.8pc |
| Total | 20.660 | 18.857 | -8.7pc |
Source: SteelData