Turkish steel mills returned aggressively to the deep-sea scrap market in late March after a period of cautious buying following tensions in the Middle East, according to the latest BIR World Mirror on Ferrous Metals report.
The report stated that Turkish mills booked more than 30 deep-sea scrap cargoes within three days, pushing imported scrap prices up by more than USD 25 per ton compared with January average levels.
According to BIR, Turkey’s restrictive monetary policy and weaker domestic steel demand during the first quarter had initially limited mills’ ability to build large scrap positions, resulting in a cautious buying pattern before the sharp return to the market in March.
The report also highlighted a shift in Turkey’s scrap import sourcing during January, with U.S.-origin scrap imports increasing by more than 140pct, while imports from major European suppliers declined by double-digit percentages.
BIR noted that Turkey remained the world’s largest scrap importer in 2025 despite a 6.6pct YoY decline in imports to 18.77 mln tons