According to the data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), in March this year Turkey's flat steel imports, including hot rolled, cold rolled, coated and narrow strip steel, rose by 22 percent compared to the previous month and were up 60.5 percent compared to March 2012, totaling 567,015 metric tons. The value of these imports amounted to $378 million, increasing by 22.8 percent from January and up 41.9 percent year on year.
In the first quarter of the year, Turkey's flat steel imports amounted to 1.5 million metric tons, increasing 38.3 percent, with a value of $1 billion, increasing by 22.9 percent, both year on year.
In the first quarter of this year, Turkey's hot rolled flat steel imports from Russia amounted to 337,624 metric tons, more than double year on year. Turkey's second biggest source of hot rolled flat steel imports in the January-March period this year was Ukraine with 271,444 metric tons, up 28.7 percent compared to January-March 2012. France's flat steel exports to Turkey in the first quarter amounted to 235,133 mt, almost triple compared to January-March last year.
| Product | Import volume (mt) | ||||
| March 2013 | February 2013 | March 2012 | Q1 2013 | Q1 2012 | |
| Hot rolled flat steel | 407,552 | 334,494 | 228,948 | 1,095,162 | 719,233 |
| Cold rolled flat steel | 44,595 | 41,838 | 50,684 | 141,288 | 165,046 |
| Coated | 75,473 | 62,471 | 49,816 | 196,298 | 148,617 |
| Strip | 39,396 | 25,864 | 23,821 | 93,986 | 70,784 |
| Total | 567,015 | 464,667 | 353,267 | 1,526,734 | 1,103,681 |
Turkey's rolled coil imports over the past 14 months are indicated in the following charts:
