Turkey increased its slab imports by 50% year-on-year, to 4,089,960 tonnes in 2024 from 2,718,018t in 2023, according to Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data.
Russia remained Turkey's largest slab supplier, with 1,705,733t in 2024, up by 10% y-o-y from 1,549,248t in 2023. However, its market share declined to 42% in 2024 from 57% a year ago.
Malaysia emerged as the second-largest supplier in 2024, with imports reached to 1,422,214t. Its market share jumped to 35% in 2024 from 14% in 2023. Same as in case of billet (see separate story) this situation was supported by the free trade agreement with Turkey, which allows duty-free access to the domestic market.
Indonesia maintained an 8% market share, with imports growing by 42% to 327,547t.
Saudi Arabia and Vietnam both experienced significant growth, with imports increasing by 55% and 82%, respectively.
Algeria and Libya entered Turkey’s slab import market in 2024, contributing 4% and 1% of imports, respectively. In the case of Algeria, the supply came from the first slab-producing plant and supplied within the Tosyali group.
Oman, which is not a known slab-producing nation, showed the highest y-o-y growth in volume, though its market share remains relatively small at 3%.
China and India significantly reduced their slab supply to Turkey, with China's exports dropping by 83% and India's by 13%. Notably, China’s billet exports to Turkey skyrocketed to 533,276t in 2024.
Uzbekistan, Brazil, UAE, United Kingdom, South Korea, and the Netherlands were no longer supplying slabs to Turkey in 2024. Notably, same like Oman, Uzbekistan, and the UAE, are not known as slab-producing nations.
Source:Kallanish
