Aegean iron and steel exporters managed to increase exports to the U.S. by 63 percent in August despite U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to levy additional tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Turkey.
According to the statement made by the Association of Aegean Exporters (EİB), exports carried out by 12 associations in August dropped by 4 percent to $997 million due to the nine-day holiday for Qurban Bayram (or Eid al-Adha in Arabic) last month.
Aegean exporters carried exports by up to $8.714 billion with a 16 percent increase from January to August, standing out with exports of iron and steel products in particular.
Year-on-year exports conducted through the Aegean Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metals Exporters' Association soared to $123.36 million in August, marking a 49 percent rise.
Aegean Exporters' Association Coordinating President Jak Eskinazi stated that the region conducted a daily average of $40 million worth of exports last August, rising to $45 million this August.
Despite Trump's second additional tax decision on Turkish steel and aluminum products, exports of iron and steel products from the Aegean region to the U.S. totaled $2.84 million, a 63 percent year-on-year rise.
Eskinazi said, "We made $996 million worth of exports in 22 business days in August. If there were no business days lost due to the holiday, we would reach an export figure of $1.18 million and an export increase of 13 percent."
The Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) revealed earlier last month that exports in the sector grew by 26.7 percent to $8.4 billion in the first seven months of this year compared to $6.6 billion in the same period of 2017.
Turkey's steel exports were valued at $11.5 billion last year, accounting for 7.3 percent of its total exports worth $157 billion, according to the Turkish Steel Exporters' Association.
The U.S. was the top destination for Turkish steel exports in 2017, which were worth $1.1 billion.
Turkey came in sixth place among the countries the U.S. imported steel from last year, while the share of Turkish steel was 7 percent of total U.S. steel imports.
Trump announced on Twitter on Aug. 10 that he had authorized the doubling of steel and aluminum tariffs with respect to Turkey, another salvo in the growing dispute between Turkey and the U.S.