In February this year, Turkey's total steel product exports amounted to 1.67 million metric tons, falling 0.9 percent compared to the same month of the previous year and up 6.4 percent momth on month, with a total revenue of $1.24 billion, up 8.5 percent over February 2012 and rising 6.9 percent compared to the previous month, according to the Turkey's Steel Exporters' Association (CIB).

The Middle East was Turkey's largest destination for steel exports in February this year, receiving 592,000 metric tons, while it was followed by the EU countries and North Africa with 349,000 mt and 200,000 mt respectively. The most exported steel product in the given month in terms of volume was rebar with 735,000 mt, followed by 206,000 mt of hot rolled flat steel, 163,000 mt of steel billet, 157,000 mt of steel pipe and 131,000 mt of wire rod.

Meanwhile, in the first two months of the current year Turkey's total steel product exports amounted to 3.24 million metric tons, up 0.3 percent compared to the same period last year. The revenue generated by these exports in January-February this year totaled $2.4 billion, decreasing by 6.78 percent year on year.

In the first two months of the current year, the Middle East was Turkey's largest destination for steel exports, receiving 1.3 million metric tons. In the given period, Turkey's steel product exports to the EU amounted to 608,300 mt, while North Africa imported 339,100 mt of steel products from Turkey.

Compared to the same period last year, the largest steel export increases in January-February this year were recorded in exports to EU countries, South Asia, Far East Asia and non-EU European countries. In the first two months, exports of rebar, which ranks first among the country's exported steel products in terms of volume, amounted to 1.3 million mt, while Turkey exported 489,000 mt of steel billet, 330,000 mt of hot rolled flat steel, 280,000 mt of steel pipe and 254,000 mt of steel section in the period in question.