By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA

Turkey's steel exports continued their upward trend, rising 35.2 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of 2018, reaching $12.4 billion, a trade association said on Friday.

Steel exports soared 15.5 percent to 16.8 million tons this January-October compared to the same period in 2017, the Turkish Steel Exporters' Association (CIB) said in a statement.

"Turkey's steel exports have continued their steady rise since the beginning of the year," according to Adnan Aslan, the group's head.

Noting an increase in both the amount and value of steel exports, Aslan said that the CIB also hopes to boost exports to Latin America.

Aslan emphasized that a CIB delegation will soon travel to Columbia and meet with representatives of major companies in the region, saying this could "open the door to new cooperation."

In October, steel exports rose 46.3 percent year-on-year, reaching 2.2 million tons, while value-wise, exports climbed 46.9 percent year-on-year, reaching $1.49 billion.

The rise in the value was also influenced by the unit price increase of steel products, the report said.

Turkish steel's average unit price per ton rose 17 percent in January-October from the same period last year, reaching $740.

On Aug. 10, U.S. President Donald Trump doubled U.S. tariffs on Turkish aluminum and steel imports.

In retaliation, on Aug. 15 Turkey raised tariffs on several U.S.-origin products, including alcohol and tobacco products and cars.