Features of Turkish imports of scrap metal

Turkey consumes one fifth of the world's scrap steel imports and is the most important scrap receiving market . Turkish imports of scrap metal from the UK rose 88.3 percent year on year to 563,000 tonnes during the first months of this year, the Turkish Iron and Steel Manufacturers Association (TCUD) reported in the latest data.

The United Kingdom became the largest importer of scrap metal to Turkey in the first months of this year, followed by the United States, Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ukraine, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia and France.

According to TCUD, Turkish imports of scrap metal from Russia fell 12.2 percent to 375,000 tons in the first two months of this year. Imports from the Netherlands also fell to 256 thousand tons. The decrease was 3 percent.

At the same time, the total volume of Turkish imports of scrap metal decreased by 5.3 percent on an annualized basis to 2.82 million tons in January-February. Turkey imported scrap metal in the amount of $ 894 million during this period, which is 23.5 percent less than last year. Turkish imports of scrap steel fell in the first months of this year due to a slowdown in the country's metallurgical industry.

Turkish scrap steel import prices are used as the base price by steel industry players around the world. This particular position of Turkey in the scrap metal market requires the launch of a scrap steel futures contract. In this regard, the Istanbul Stock Exchange (VIOP) has unveiled a new steel scrap futures contract through which VIOP offers an effective risk management tool for Turkish steel industry participants.