Turkey in March increased domestic consumption of steel by 34 percent
In March 2020 domestic consumption of steel products in Turkey was 2.7 million tons, which is 34.9% more compared to the same month in 2019. Quarterly demand for steel in the country increased by 42.3% to 7.7 million tons, said message the Turkish Association of ferrous metallurgy.
steel Production in Turkey in March 2020 rose year-on-year by 4.1% yoy to 3.1 million tonnes, the quarterly growth rate was 9.6% in the period from January to March, up to 9 million tons.
"the Growth of consumption and production, which was mainly related to base effects, with the beginning of the epidemic coronavirus slowed in March", - noted in the Association.
In March the Turkish exports of steel products decreased by 23.4% to 1.6 million tons and its value fell by 22.8% to $ 1.2 billion. In January-March the volume of exports declined by 11.6% compared to the same period of 2019 to 5.1 billion tons.
steel Imports in Turkey in March 2020 increased by 18.6% compared to the same month in 2019, up to 1 million tons. In the first quarter of 2020, the import increased by 33.3% compared to the same period last year and reached 3.6 million tons.
"while exports fell by 23.4% in March, the increase in imports by 18.6% caused discomfort. This has led to rising expectations that production downtimes and methods of reducing shifts will become more common, especially in factories with arc furnaces", - stated in the message of Association.