Turkey's steel exports jump almost 17 percent in May

ANKARA

Turkey's steel exports climbed 16.9 percent year on year in May, hitting 1.5 million tons, according to data released by the Turkish Steel Exporters Association on Tuesday. 

The value of steel exports soared 29.1 percent to $966 million in the month compared to May 2016, the association said.

The data showed that the country's steel exports saw an increase of 21.3 percent in the first five months of the year compared with the same period last year, reaching 8.3 million tons.

Earnings from steel exports were $4.9 billion during the same period, marking an increase of 38.7 percent.

The European Union countries remained the largest importer of Turkish steel with 2.5 million tons from January to May, skyrocketing by 109 percent compared to the same period last year.

The EU was followed by Middle East with 1.8 million tons, while North America purchased 1.3 million tons and Far East imported 697,000 tons.

The head of the Steel Exporters Association Namik Ekinci pointed out that Turkey's steel exports to Far East had jumped 626 percent.

Ekinci said that exports to Middle Eastern and North African countries had been affected negatively by the ongoing tension in the region, but the exporters were trying to compensate their losses incurred in the last few years with the increase in the last five months.

Reporting by Ugur Aslanhan; Writing by Tuba Sahin