By Mustafa Gungor
MERSIN, Turkey (AA) - Turkey's iron, non-ferrous metal and steel exports rose by 28 percent to $4.5 billion in the first quarter of 2017 year-on-year, chairman of the Mediterranean Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metals Exporters' Association announced on Friday.
"Our association's exports increased by 97 percent to $533 million in the first quarter of this year," Adnan Ersoy Ulubas said.
The association, founded in 1993, serves 2,200 members in the iron and non-ferrous metals sector.
In the same period, Turkey's total amount of iron, non-ferrous metal and steel exports went up by 20 percent to 5.6 million tons, Ulubas said.
Association members exported 853,000 tons of iron, non-ferrous metal and steel, marking a 101 percent increase, he said.
He recalled that China's competitiveness in global iron and steel market went down with the increase in prices as a result of high domestic demand in the country.
"As Mediterranean exporters, we turned it [China's low competitiveness] into an advantage.
“We exported products to Italy, Belgium, the U.K. and France where we could not export in the first quarter of 2016,” he added.