China edges past Russia as Turkey’s top billet supplier

Turkey’s billet and bloom imports rose 11.8% year on year to 3.62 million tonnes in January–September 2026. China became the country’s largest supplier for the period, narrowly overtaking Russia.

Preliminary data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) show that imports reached 287,659 tonnes in September, up 1% from August but down 16.6% year on year. Their value was $155.35 million, 3.4% higher month on month and 10.4% lower year on year. For the first nine months, import costs increased 13.1% to $1.83 billion.

Shipments from China rose 49.3% year on year to 942,362 tonnes in January–September. Imports from Russia increased 33.7% to 935,335 tonnes. The change in ranking was driven by 142,007 tonnes shipped from China in September, while no billets or blooms arrived from Russia that month.

Growth in total imports slowed from 15.2% in January–August. Among other suppliers, Pakistan gained ground, with shipments up 134.4% over the nine-month period and 141.7% in September. Imports from Malaysia fell 36.4%, while those from Vietnam dropped 37.2%; Turkey nevertheless imported 49,825 tonnes from Vietnam in September.

Vietnam ranked among Turkey’s top 10 suppliers for January–September.

Country	Amount (mt)
	January-September 2026	January-September 2025	Y-o-y change (%)	September 2026	September 2025	Y-o-y change (%)
China	942,362	631,196	49.3	142,007	109,858	29.3
Russia	935,335	699,497	33.7	-	55,197	-100.0
Malaysia	479,387	753,469	-36.4	52,970	53,986	-1.9
Oman	305,111	155,421	96.3	7,702	28,968	-73.4
UAE	179,288	57,870	209.8	-	-	-
Pakistan	168,537	71,902	134.4	28,276	11,700	141.7
Ukraine	107,393	153,122	-29.9	-	9,896	-100.0
Indonesia	89,632	84,898	5.6	-	-	-
Algeria	87,531	108,661	-19.4	-	37,913	-100.0
Vietnam	79,748	127,007	-37.2	49,825	-	-