Arab imports of Turkish iron and steel products increased by 36.8 percent to more than 1.972 million mt during February and March 2009, compared to 1.441 million mt during the same period in 2008.
For the two months in question, Egypt ranked first among the Arab countries importing from Turkey with a total quantity of 687,413 mt, compared to 12,860 mt in the same period in 2008. 610,680 mt of the total figure consist of rebars.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranked second, with its imports from Turkey in February and March this year decreasing by 73.69 percent year on year to 246,485 mt.
Finished steel products imported by Arab countries from Turkey during February and March 2009 amounted to 1.7 million mt, of which 1.532 million mt consisted of rebars, 112,600 mt of sections, 47,700 mt of wire rods and 8,080 mt of hot rolled coils. The finished product import figure for the period in question marked an increase of 44.62 percent from 1.175 million mt in February-March 2008.
The remaining imports were distributed over other products, with billet imports amounting to 130,835 mt, with pipe imports at 127,557 mt, coated sheets at 11,915 mt and cold rolled sheets at 1,660 mt.