Turkey’s steel exports in the first eight months of 2021 surpassed the total amount of steel sent abroad in 2020, hitting $13.2 billion.

According to data an Anadolu Agency (AA) reporter gathered from Turkish exporters in the Aegean region, the total amount of steel exported last year stood at $12.6 billion.

In 2021, global steel investments also directly helped Turkey’s steel exports. The sector, which continues to break records on a monthly basis, registered a 69% increase in the January – August period total compared to the same period last year.

Spain took the top spot in Turkey’s exports. Turkey’s exports to the European country registered a whopping 117% increase, hitting $865.7 million.

Israel followed Spain, taking in Turkish steel exports worth $830 million, while Italy rounded out the top three with $757.5 million.

Yalçın Ertan, head of Aegean Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metals Exporters Association, told AA that after the initial shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, the business continued with increasing demand every day from November 2020 onward.

"We expect to export 23 to 24 million tons of steel worth $20 to $22 billion in 2021," he said.

Reminding that Turkey’s Q2 2021 growth stands at 21.7%, Ertan also said that the Turkish steel industry grew by 34% in the same period.

Adding that steel exports took the second spot after automotive in Turkey’s August exports, the official also said that the steel industry accounted for a 12% share in Turkey’s total exports.

"Crude steel production increased by 17% compared to the same period last year and reached 23 million tons. If we continue with the same rate, I believe we will reach 40 million tons of liquid steel production," he said.

Ertan also added that steel prices saw an increase due to raw material and semi-product costs, underlining that prices decreased starting with the third quarter and that it is expected to remain this way until the end of the year.

Turkish exporters achieved their best August sales to date, while the nation's 12-month rolling foreign sales also reached a new all-time high, Trade Minister Mehmet Muş announced recently.

Exports climbed 52% to $18.9 billion (TL 156 billion) last month, having been hit in spring last year as the COVID-19 pandemic hurt trade with Ankara's biggest partners, according to the general trade system.

"With this strong momentum achieved in our exports, we surpassed the pre-pandemic performance," Muş told a meeting in the capital Ankara to announce preliminary figures.

The figure also represents a rise of 43% versus August 2019, he underlined.

Imports rose 23.8% year-on-year to $23.2 billion in August, the data showed. The exports-to-imports coverage ratio jumped 15.1 points to 81.5%.

The country's trade deficit narrowed 31.7% year-on-year to $4.3 billion, Muş said.

After exceeding the threshold of $200 billion for the first time ever in July, the country's 12-month rolling exports reached $207.5 billion last month, the minister noted.