Imports of scrap into Turkey increased 34.9% year-on-year in December to 1.74 million tonnes as prices declined. The average value/tonne of these imports decreased to $193/tonne from $336/t a year earlier, Kallanish calculates from the latest Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data.

This is the second month of increased scrap imports for 2015 after February when imports grew 40.5% on-year to 1.45mt.

Turkey’s largest scrap supplier, the USA, registered a 74% y-o-y surge in shipments to Turkey to 449,512t in December. The UK was the second-largest supplier of scrap to Turkey as its deliveries soared to 303,201t from 65,211t a year ago. The Netherlands ranked third with a 115.6% growth in exports to 197,744t.

Turkish December rebar exports fell by -7.4% y-o-y to 675,498t and their average value/tonne decreased by $169/t to $334/t. The scrap-rebar spread thus narrowed to $141/t in December from $167/t a year earlier, keeping the pressure on Turkish mills’ margins. However, it provided some relief from the $127/t seen in November.

Full-year 2015 scrap imports into Turkey, however, declined by -14.8% on-year to 16.25mt in parallel with the surge in billet imports, mainly from China. The average value/tonne of the scrap imports declined by $111/t over 2014 to $264/t in 2015.

The USA was the country’s top scrap supplier last year, although its shipments fell -3.8% to 3.84mt. The UK ranked second with a -15.5% decline in supply to 2.46mt. Russia was third with a -13.9% decrease in deliveries to 2.42mt.

Other large scrap suppliers in 2015 were Belgium, despite the -12.5% decline in shipments to 1.33mt, and the Netherlands, whose deliveries dropped -22.1% to 1.16mt. Scrap imports from Romania plunged -56.1% to 553,125t. However, those from Ukraine surged 35.9% to 1.15mt.