Steel prices in Türkiye — what was actually paid in 2024
Türkiye is the rare market that shows up near the top of both columns on this page. It buys slab, hot coil and scrap, and it sells coated sheet, pipe and sections, so its import and export unit values on the same heading often sit within a few dollars of each other. Read the two tables together rather than separately: the difference between them is the country's processing margin.
Last updated
No survey, no index: Türkiye declared these values and tonnages, and the division is ours. How it is done and where it breaks down →
- 12,081,930 tsteel imported (2024)
- 26,868,256 tsteel exported
- Net exporter14,786,326 t surplus
Imports
What Türkiye imported and what it paid, 2024
| HS | Product | Tonnes | USD/tonne | Value (USD m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7208 | Hot-rolled coil and plate | 6,409,078 | 663 | 4,249.6 |
| 7210 | Coated sheet (galvanized and painted) | 1,970,339 | 962 | 1,896.1 |
| 7209 | Cold-rolled sheet | 1,540,404 | 756 | 1,165.3 |
| 7213 | Wire rod | 808,799 | 669 | 540.7 |
| 7216 | Angles, shapes and sections | 630,585 | 800 | 504.4 |
| 7214 | Hot-rolled bar | 413,101 | 621 | 256.4 |
| 7212 | Narrow coated strip | 138,391 | 1,164 | 161.1 |
| 7217 | Wire | 102,430 | 1,552 | 158.9 |
| 730630 | Welded tube, circular, non-alloy | 38,574 | 1,663 | 64.1 |
| 730661 | Welded hollow section, square and rectangular | 30,229 | 1,644 | 49.7 |
Exports
What Türkiye exported and what it received, 2024
| HS | Product | Tonnes | USD/tonne | Value (USD m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7214 | Hot-rolled bar | 7,323,777 | 591 | 4,328.1 |
| 7208 | Hot-rolled coil and plate | 5,985,124 | 645 | 3,861.4 |
| 7216 | Angles, shapes and sections | 3,636,713 | 733 | 2,665.9 |
| 7210 | Coated sheet (galvanized and painted) | 2,931,627 | 932 | 2,732.2 |
| 7213 | Wire rod | 1,840,142 | 610 | 1,121.8 |
| 730661 | Welded hollow section, square and rectangular | 1,831,958 | 719 | 1,318.0 |
| 7209 | Cold-rolled sheet | 1,383,491 | 740 | 1,023.8 |
| 730630 | Welded tube, circular, non-alloy | 1,141,405 | 956 | 1,091.4 |
| 7217 | Wire | 583,549 | 913 | 532.8 |
| 7212 | Narrow coated strip | 210,470 | 979 | 206.0 |
What the Türkiye numbers say
- The dearest thing Türkiye buys is welded tube, circular, non-alloy at 1,663 USD per tonne; the cheapest is hot-rolled bar at 621. A ratio of 2.7× between the two is normal for a country that imports raw steel and exports finished steel.
- Hot-rolled coil and plate is 53 % of the tonnage coming in, so the headline import price for Türkiye is mostly the price of that one product.
- Supply on that heading is spread — China covers 34 % of the top five lanes.
- On wire the country pays 1,552 USD and receives 913. A 639 USD difference across the same heading is the processing margin, not a freight anomaly.
Buying and selling into Türkiye
- Türkiye is both a large importer and the region's biggest exporter of flat steel, which is why its import and export unit values on the same heading sit within a few dollars of each other — the country is a processor, buying slab and coil and selling coated and formed product.
- Loading ports for export are Ambarlı and Gemlik on the Marmara and Derince for breakbulk; inland haulage from the Dilovası mill belt to any of the three is under two hours, which is why Turkish FOB quotes rarely carry a meaningful inland component.
- The EU safeguard quota governs how much Turkish flat steel can enter the European Union duty-free in each quarter; when a quota category runs out, a 25 % out-of-quota duty applies and the trade shifts to the following quarter. Buyers in the EU should check the category balance before fixing a delivery month.
- Mill lead time for a rolled-to-order flat product is typically three to five weeks; stock material from a service centre ships in three to five working days.
Main supplying countries
Hot-rolled coil and plate (HS 7208)
| Supplier | Tonnes | USD/tonne |
|---|---|---|
| China | 1,834,456 | 620 |
| Egypt | 1,228,570 | 645 |
| Russia | 1,161,782 | 558 |
| Korea, Rep. | 967,249 | 730 |
| Partner 251 | 246,169 | 957 |
Coated sheet (galvanized and painted) (HS 7210)
| Supplier | Tonnes | USD/tonne |
|---|---|---|
| Korea, Rep. | 620,372 | 981 |
| China | 430,360 | 869 |
| Belgium | 235,685 | 706 |
| Germany | 207,163 | 1,252 |
| Partner 251 | 115,808 | 1,165 |
Cold-rolled sheet (HS 7209)
| Supplier | Tonnes | USD/tonne |
|---|---|---|
| Korea, Rep. | 469,331 | 727 |
| Russia | 334,307 | 681 |
| China | 328,169 | 786 |
| Spain | 91,190 | 940 |
| Belgium | 65,074 | 711 |
Wire rod (HS 7213)
| Supplier | Tonnes | USD/tonne |
|---|---|---|
| China | 171,742 | 563 |
| Kazakhstan | 95,968 | 545 |
| Korea, Rep. | 93,075 | 734 |
| United Kingdom | 82,363 | 833 |
| Russia | 63,677 | 563 |
Buying into Türkiye?
If you are buying out of Türkiye rather than studying it, the numbers that matter are your sizes, your port and the month you need the cargo. Send those and the answer comes back as a fixed offer with a validity date.
How Türkiye import values moved, 2020–2024
Declared import unit value by heading and year, USD per tonne
| Year | Hot-rolled coil and plate | Wire rod | Angles, shapes and sections | Welded tube, circular | Welded hollow sections |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | — | — | — | 1,572 | 2,064 |
| 2021 | — | — | 828 | 1,828 | 2,560 |
| 2022 | 897 | 990 | — | — | — |
| 2023 | 727 | 3,710 | 911 | 10,771 | 2,233 |
| 2024 | 663 | 669 | 800 | 1,663 | 1,644 |
Years run down, headings across, and only headings reported at least three times are shown. The columns are deliberately not averaged — combining a flat product with a welded tube would produce a number with no referent. Where one cell stands well clear of the others, that heading carried an unusual product mix that year.
Other markets
Questions about steel prices in Türkiye
What does steel cost in Türkiye?
Customs data for 2024 puts hot-rolled coil imports into Türkiye at 663 USD per tonne. Türkiye is unusual in that it appears near the top of both the import and the export column: it buys semi-finished and sells finished, so the export unit value is the more useful number if you are sourcing from it.
Why does Türkiye both import and export the same headings?
Because the mills are converters. Slab and coil come in, and tube, section, coated sheet and profile go out. The gap between the import and export unit value in the same heading is roughly the conversion margin the industry works on.
Is Turkish steel cheaper than European steel?
On the customs figures it usually is, and freight to the Mediterranean, the Gulf and North Africa is short. The comparison to make is landed cost at your port rather than mill price, because the freight advantage is often larger than the price difference.
Which ports do Turkish exports leave from?
Mainly Marmara and Aegean ports for European and North African destinations, and Iskenderun and Mersin for the Gulf and Iraq. Port choice moves the freight line more than most buyers expect, so ask which one a quotation assumes.