According to the operational data of the Turkish Metallurgical Association TCUD, in September 2020 the consumption of finished metal products in the country increased by 27.7% to 2.8 million tons.
Consumption of steel products, which increased by 42.7% in the first quarter and decreased by 16.9% in the second quarter, increased by 25.2% in the third quarter. In January-September 2020, consumption of finished steel reached 21.9 million tons, an increase of 14.9%.
Raw steel production in Turkey started to grow in June and continued its upward trend in September 2020. Capacity utilization in September was 78.2%, and over 9 months - 69.8%.
Turkish exports of metal products in September increased by 0.8% in volume terms to 1.9 million tons, and in value terms decreased by 3.9% to $ 1.3 billion.
In January-September 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, exports decreased by 9.1% in volume terms to 15 million tons, and in value terms - by 14.7% to $ 10.4 billion.
Steel imports to Turkey in September 2020 amounted to 1.2 million tons, an increase of 10.1% in quantitative terms, and by USD 881 million, a decrease of 3% in value compared to the same month in 2019.
In January-September 2020, the volume of imports increased by 8.9% compared to the same period last year, reaching 10 million tons. In value terms, it was sold in the amount of $ 7.2 billion with a decrease of 4.9%.
Due to declining exports and increasing imports, the export to import ratio, which stood at 161% between January and September 2019, has dropped to 144.4% in the first 9 months of this year.
Between January and September, Turkey overtook Germany with an output of 25.9 million tonnes to become the 7th largest steel producer in the world and the largest steel producer in Europe.
