According to TUIK, iron ore imports in Turkey increased by 2.5% in the first three quarters of 2019. Tuik said that in the first nine months of this year, Turkey's total crude steel production was 25.3 million tons, down 10.1% year-on-year. In terms of furnace type, the crude steel produced by EAF decreased by 12.1% to 17.2 million tons, while the output of converter steel decreased by 5.5% to 8.1 million tons year on year.
But despite the decline in Turkish steel production, the country imported 7.93 million tons of iron ore in nine months, up from 7.74 million tons in the same period last year. According to rough estimates, the cost of imported steel this year also increased by 21% year on year, reaching 856 million US dollars. Turkey imported 4.24 million tons of iron ore from Brazil in the third quarter of this year, up from 3.36 million tons in the same period of 2018. Sweden imports 1.2 million tons of iron ore, while Canada imports 670000 tons.
