By Tuba Sahin
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey's crude steel output reached 13.5 million tons in the first five months of this year, a trade association said Wednesday.
The January-May figure was down 5.6% from the same period last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) said.
The volume of the country's steel product exports saw a decline of 18.5% to 8 million tons during the same period.
Falling 22.8% year-on-year, Turkey's earnings this January to May from steel exports totaled $5.6 billion.
Steel imports rose 1.4%, reaching 5 million tons in the same period. In terms of value, crude steel imports dropped 8.3% on an annual basis to $3.8 billion.
Citing World Steel Association data, the group said global crude steel production fell 5.2% to 729 million tons in the same period.
