Turkey upped its steel exports by 27.6% y/y in 2024 to 13.4mn tonnes, according to the Turkish Steel Association (TCUD).

Growth was driven by shipments to the European Union (5.9mn tonnes, up 64.6% y/y). Just a small percentage of Turkish steel exports go to the US, where President Donald Trump says he is introducing tariffs against imported steel and aluminium.

Turkey itself has been exploring the use of tariffs to try to counter alleged dumping of cheap steel on its market by China, where the steel industry has been hit by a domestic market construction downturn.

Turkey’s steel imports in 2024 amounted to 17.4mn tonnes (+1.7% y/y).

In December, the country’s steel imports leapt 73.8% y/y to 1.8mn tonnes, driven by an expansion in supplies of semi-finished and long products (+100% y/y and 48% y/y, respectively).

“High growth rates of imports from countries such as China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia, which has a free trade agreement with our country, have had a negative impact on foreign trade in steel products. The products that Chinese manufacturers have been supplying to global markets for the past two years at prices close to cost have turned them upside down. Exports [to world markets] from China have reached the second highest level after the historic high of 112.4 million tonnes recorded in 2015, and in 2024 they will reach 110.7 million tonnes,” noted Veysel Yayan, secretary general of TCUD.

In 2024, Turkish steelmakers increased steel output by 9.4% y/y to 36.89mn tonnes.

On February 5, Turkiye Today reported the chairman of the Turkish Steel Exporters’ Association, Adnan Aslan, as saying that Turkey’s steel industry has the potential to ship up to 2mn tonnes of product to Syria as post-war reconstruction efforts in the country drive up demand.

Aslan noted that producers in Iskenderun, southern Turkey, have already begun exporting to Syria, though the volume so far only stood at 200,000 tonnes.

“With normalisation in the region, we could reach around 750,000 tonnes in the second half of the year, while the full potential stands at two million tonnes. This presents a significant opportunity, and if everything goes well, it will have a notable impact on our export figures in Syria,” Aslan was also reported as saying.