Turkey imported 861,166 tonnes of flat steel in May 2018, up by 12.25% year on year from 696,242 tonnes in May 2016, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).
The reason for the increase is strong demand for flat steel in the country in January and February 2018, and most of the orders placed then arriving in the country in May. Turkey also reduced the import duty applied to incoming shipments of hot-rolled coil, intended for re-rollers at 3.5% from the previous 5%, with effect from January 1, 2018, which resulted in more imports. Turkey's import figures for flat steel may keep increasing...