Trade with the EU: Turkey leads steel exports in 2024

According to data published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, in 2024, the European Union demonstrated strong performance in trade in iron, steel and related products, reaching a total export value of €77.8 billion with imports of these products worth €73.1 billion. This resulted in a trade surplus of €4.7 billion, underscoring the EU's significant role in the global iron and steel market.

Compared to 2019, exports of pig iron, steel and related products increased by 15.2 percent (10.3 billion euros), while imports increased by 23.7 percent (14.0 billion euros). However, this monetary growth occurred along with a decrease in physical volumes: exports decreased by 17.3 percent, while imports decreased by 1.6 percent. This trend indicates that the increase in the cost of trading was primarily due to higher prices, rather than an increase in volume. Trade data show that exports of iron and steel (excluding related products) increased by 9.9 percent compared to 2019, reaching 32.3 billion euros in 2024, while imports increased by 19.7 percent to 39.5 billion euros. In terms of volume, exports and imports decreased by 14.6 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively, over the same period. Similarly, iron and steel products have shown significant growth. The EU exported these products worth €45.5 billion, which is 19.3% more than €38.2 billion in 2019. Imports of these goods increased by 28.7% to €33.6 billion over the same period. However, exports fell by 26.0%, while imports increased by 10.1%.

Turkey has become the EU's main export destination for steel in value terms, with shipments worth €6.2 billion. It was also the third largest source of imports (€3.5 billion). The United States was the second largest export market (5.4 billion euros), followed by the United Kingdom (4.0 billion euros), Switzerland (2.1 billion euros) and Mexico (1.7 billion euros).

In terms of imports, India topped the ranking with 3.9 billion euros, followed by South Korea (3.6 billion euros) and China (3.5 billion euros), sharing third place with Turkey. The UK (€3.2 billion) is also among the top five sources of imports. Between 2019 and 2024, exports to Mexico increased by 54.1%, and to the United States by 51.1%. Meanwhile, imports from India increased by 89.2% and from South Korea by 43.0% over the same period.

The main export market for iron and steel products was the United States, which imported these products from the EU in the amount of 8.0 billion euros, which is 45.1% more than in 2019. Other significant exporting countries were the United Kingdom (6.3 billion euros), Switzerland (3.5 billion euros), Norway (2.9 billion euros) and China (2.8 billion euros).

As for imports, China was the leading supplier, accounting for 12.5 billion euros, or 37.3% of total EU imports.