According to the data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), in March this year Turkey's total wire rod exports amounted to 100,271 metric tons, rising 30.3 percent month on month and down 18.2 percent compared to March 2012. In March, the average price of Turkey's wire rod exports stood at $616/mt, falling compared to the average of $643/mt recorded in the same month of 2012.
Turkey's wire rod exports to Singapore had hit a historical record in January this year with 41,222 mt, while there is no record of wire rod exports to Singapore in December and January last year, or in February and March this year. Meanwhile, wire rod exports to the US amounted to 20,323 mt in March this year, the highest level since February 2012, up 13.5 percent compared to the same month of 2012 and rising strongly compared to the previous month.
In the first quarter of the year, the country's wire rod exports amounted to 297,470 mt, almost stable compared to the same quarter of the previous year, while the total revenue from these exports amounted to $181 million, decreasing by six percent year on year. In the first quarter, wire rod exports from Turkey rose on quarter-on-quarter basis for the second consecutive quarter, increasing to the level recorded in the same quarter of 2012, following the strong quarter-on-quarter fall recorded in the third quarter last year.
In the first quarter of the year, Turkey's wire rod exports to the Middle East amounted to 54,365 mt, decreasing slightly from the previous quarter and up 11.3 percent year on year, while wire rod exports to the EU countries decreased 37.6 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2012, amounting to 40,324 mt, but were up strongly compared to the levels of less than 20,000 mt recorded between Q4 2011 and Q3 2012.
Turkey's top 10 wire rod export destinations in the first quarter this year: