Turkish iron ore imports shot up both month-on-month and year-on-year in August, in line with 47.2% year-on-year surge in production through the oxygen converter route, on better market sentiment after Ramadan despite the Iraq insurgency.
Electric arc furnace route crude steel output was down 3.8% year-on-year to 2.03 million mt in August, while production through the oxygen converter route surged 47.2% to 872,483 mt.
In line with the rise in BOF-based output, Turkey imported 951,741 mt of iron ore in August, 52% higher than the 628,500 mt imported in the corresponding month of 2013.
This figure was also up a hefty 78% from the previous month, according to the latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute, TUIK.
Brazil remained Turkey's largest supplier of iron ore in August, providing 338,500 mt. Russia shipped 306,160 mt, while Sweden's iron ore exports to Turkey totaled 164,997 mt.
Turkey also imported 99,279 mt of iron ore from Ukraine in August.
In the first eight months of the year, iron ore imports into Turkey reached 5.88 million mt, 8.8% higher than the 5.4 million mt imported in the same period of last year.
