Turkey’s steel exports jump almost 17 percent in May

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

The volume of Turkey’s steel exports climbed 16.9 percent year on year in May, hitting 1.5 million tons, according to data released by the Turkish Steel Exporters Association on June 6.      

The value of steel exports soared 29.1 percent to $966 million in the month compared to May 2016, the association stated.      

The data showed that the country’s steel exports saw an increase of 21.3 percent in the first five months of the year compared with the same period last year, reaching 8.3 million tons.  
  
Earnings from steel exports were $4.9 billion during the same period, marking an increase of 38.7 percent.      
EU countries remained the largest importer of Turkish steel with 2.5 million tons from January to May, skyrocketing by 109 percent compared to the same period last year.      

The EU was followed by Middle East with 1.8 million tons, while North America purchased 1.3 million tons and Far East imported 697,000 tons.      

Steel Exporters Association head Namık Ekinci pointed out that Turkey’s steel exports to the Far East had jumped 626 percent.      

Ekinci said exports to Middle Eastern and North African countries had been affected negatively by ongoing tension in the region, but the exporters were trying to compensate their losses incurred in the last few years with the increase in the last five months.