In December last year, Turkey's total steel product exports amounted to 1.66 million metric tons, rising 10.6 percent month on month and down 5.7 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, with a total revenue of $1.26 billion, decreasing 9.9 percent from December 2011 and down 3.1 percent compared to the previous month, according to the Turkey's Steel Exporters' Association (CIB).
The Middle East was Turkey's largest destination for steel exports in December last year, receiving 695,000 metric tons, while it was followed by the EU countries with 218,000 mt and by North Africa with 195,000 mt. The most exported steel product in terms of volume in the month in question was rebar with 840,000 mt, followed by 200,000 mt of steel pipe, 126,000 mt of steel section, 122,000 mt of hot rolled flat steel and 116,000 mt of steel billet.
Meanwhile, in the whole of 2012 Turkey's total steel product exports amounted to 19.9 million metric tons, up 9.6 percent compared to the previous year. The revenue generated by these exports totaled $15.6 billion, increasing by 1.8 percent year on year.
In 2012, the Middle East was Turkey's largest destination for steel exports, receiving 8.1 million metric tons. In the given period, Turkey's steel product exports to the EU amounted to 2.2 million mt, while North Africa imported 2.1 million mt of steel products from Turkey.
In 2012, exports of rebar, which ranks first among the country's exported steel products in terms of volume, amounted to 8.87 million mt, while Turkey exported 2.97 million mt of steel billet, 1.91 million mt of steel pipe, 1.68 million mt of steel section and 1.08 million mt of wire rod in the period in question.