European demand drives Türkiye's steel export in 2024
Turkish steelmakers raised exports of steel products by 27.6% in 2024 from a year earlier, to 13.4 Mt, owing to increased appetite in the European Union, where they shipped 5.9 Mt during this period, up 64.6% year-on-year.
Ahead of the new quota period, in December 2024, Türkiye shipped 610,310t of all steel products to the EU, against 443,730t over the same period of 2023. The major destinations were Romania and Italy, as Turkish exporters were able to reduce production costs and attract buyers with competitive prices. Yemen, Ukraine and the United Kingdom were also among Türkiye's top five export partners in December.
In the meantime, Türkiye's steel import climbed up by 1.7% in 2024 on the year, to 17.4 Mt. Despite a decline in total finished steel shipments to Türkiye, import of semis more than doubled in the fourth quarter, totalling to 7.9 Mt in 2024, up 33.9% year-on-year.
China and other Asian suppliers remained aggressive in the international market due to increased competition and tighter trade measures. But they continued ramping up crude steel production in the fourth quarter of 2024.
| Country/Segment | Product | Period | Volume, MT | Y-o-y change, % | Volume YTD, MT | Y-o-y change, % | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
China | |||||||
| Production | Crude steel | Dec-24 | 76.0 | +11.8 | 1,005.1 | -1.7 | NBS |
| Production | Finished steel | Dec-24 | 119.1 | +7.1 | 1399.7 | +1.1 | NBS |
| Export | Finished steel | Dec-24 | 9.73 | +25.9 | 91.89 | +22.7 | GACC |
| Vietnam | |||||||
| Production | Crude steel | Dec-24 | 1.9 | +4.1 | 22.1 | +14.9 | WSA |
| Export | Steel | Dec-24 | 0.7 | -32.7 | 12.6 | +13.5 | GDVC |
| Export | Steel | Jan-25 | 0.9 | -19.6 | - | - | GDVC |
| Import | Steel | Jan-25 | 1.0 | -36.1 | 17.7* | +32.9 | GDVC |
Türkiye | |||||||
| Production | Crude steel | Dec-24 | 3.0 | -7.6 | 36.9 | +9.4 | TCUD/WSA |
| Export | Steel | Dec-24 | 1.3 | +16.0 | 13.4 | +27.6 | TCUD/ISSB |
| Import | Steel | Dec-24 | 1.8 | +73.8 | 17.4 | +1.7 | TCUD/ISSB |
| Germany | |||||||
| Production | Crude steel | Dec-24 | 2.7 | +4.1 | 37.2 | +5.2 | WV Stahl |
| Production | HR steel | Dec-24 | 2.1 | -7.5 | 31.6 | +3.0 | WV Stahl |
| Imports from non-EU | Finished steel | Nov-24 | 0.06 | -43.0 | 1.1 | -4.4 | Eurostat/ISSB |
| Italy | |||||||
| Production | Crude steel | Dec-24 | 1.2 | -8.9 | 20.0 | -5.0 | Federacciai Federacciai Federacciai |
| Production | Longs | Dec-24 | 0.7 | -4.7 | 11.7 | -0.2 | |
| Production | Flats | Dec-24 | 0.6 | +3.2 | 8.6 | -9.7 | |
| Imports from non-EU | Finished steel | Nov-24 | 0.7 | +34.5 | 9.5 | -4.8 | Eurostat/ISSB |
| USA | |||||||
| Production | Crude steel | Dec-24 | 6.7 | -2.4 | 79.5 | -2.4 | WSA |
| Import | Steel | Dec-24 | 1.9 | +2.0 | 26.2 | +2.5 | USCB |
| Global | Crude steel | Dec-24 | 144.5 | +5.6 | 1,839.5 | -0.9 | WSA |