According to the data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), in January this year Turkey's seamless pipe imports rose 20.8 percent compared to December last year and were up 26.8 percent compared to January 2012, amounting to 14,994 metric tons. The value of these imports was $22.5 million, increasing by 24.5 percent year on year.

In 2012 Turkey's seamless pipe imports had amounted to 203,237 metric tons, decreasing six percent year on year, following the year-on-year rise of 16.4 percent in 2011. The value of these imports in 2012 came to $295.5 million, decreasing by 13.5 percent year on year.

Turkey's seamless pipe imports from China, its largest seamless pipe source in January, amounted to 7,214 metric tons, up 64.4 percent compared to December 2012 and up 84.8 percent year on year. In the 2006-2012 period, China's seamless pipe exports to Turkey increased gradually on year-on-year basis as can be seen in the chart below:

Ukraine followed China, exporting 1,842 mt of seamless pipes to Turkey in January, decreasing by 9.7 percent month on month and down 20.3 percent compared to the same month of 2012. Meanwhile, Turkey imported 1,114 mt of seamless pipe from Mexico in the month in question, the first exports from Mexico since the 246 mt recorded in September 2011.

In the first month of the year, Turkey's seamless pipe imports from the CIS amounted to 2,101 mt, continuing the low volume trend observed in the second half of 2012, while the EU exported of 4,107 mt of seamless pipes to Turkey in January 2013, declining for the second consecutive month on month-on-month basis.

Turkey's seamless pipe import distribution with respect to source countries in January 2013 is as follows: