In the first half of this year, Turkey's steel exports to North Africa regressed by 40.37 percent year on year in value, totaling $1.09 billion, according to the preliminary statistics provided by the Istanbul Mineral and Metals Exporters' Association (IMMIB).
The main reason for this decline is the drop in Turkey's steel exports to Egypt. In the first six months of 2010, Turkey's steel exports to Egypt came to $399.85 million, compared to $1.06 billion in H1 2009, which represents a decrease of 62.35 percent.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, due to Turkey's intensive steel export activity to Egypt in 2009 in the context of the latter country's booming infrastructure projects, in early January this year Egyptian steelmakers asked Egypt's minister of trade and industry to conduct an antidumping investigation into Turkey's steel imports to the country. However, in the investigation, the ministry did not find any unfair trade practice.
Meanwhile, Turkey's steel exports to Libya increased by 38.71 percent year on year in the January-June period of this year, amounting to $325.56 million, while its steel exports to Algeria decreased by 58.19 percent to $172.63 million) and its steel exports to Sudan fell by 41.37 percent to $13.38 million; Turkey's steel exports to Morocco improved by 41.08 percent to $103.62 million in the same period, while its exports to Tunisia rose by 278.62 percent to $73.49 million.