In the wake of sanctions imposed on Russia in connection with the war in Ukraine, there is an increase in the interest of Russian companies in the purchase of iron and other metal products from Türkiye, said head of the Association of Exporters and Iron and Other Metals of Istanbul (İDDMİB) Cetin Tecdelioglu.
“We are by no means ignoring the tragedy and loss of life due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. At the same time, we are talking about the presence of a growing interest of Russian companies in iron-roll and derivatives from Türkiye, which is largely due to the restrictions imposed by the West on trade,” he said.
According to Tecdelioglu, what Russian companies cannot already buy from Germany, France or Italy, they buy from Türkiye. There are also quite a few European companies ready to sell their products to Russia through Türkiye. “It is important to take full advantage of the current situation,” he said.
The head of İDDMİB drew attention to the sector’s export indicators, noting that deliveries of products to foreign customers for 7 months of this year reached $8.9 billion, which is a third more than in January-July last year.
He noted that the share of the metal production and processing sector in Türkiye’s total exports reached 6.2 percent, which is the sixth highest among the regions of the economy. Germany remains the leading importer of Turkish iron and derivatives products ($1.2 billion in January-July 2022). Italy and the US follow.
The sector is aiming for a record $20 billion in exports in 2023, he said.
