Turkey's crude steel production rose 2.6 percent on a yearly basis in April to reach 3 million tons, the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) said Monday.

The country's steel product exports in April also surged 22.7 percent year-on-year to reach 1.9 million tons, said the TCUD. The value of steel exports totaled $1.4 billion in April, up 9.8 percent from the same month last year.

During the same period, the volume of steel imports fell 20.4 percent to 1.2 million tons. In terms of value, crude steel imports dropped 26.4 percent year-on-year to $965 million.

In the first four months of this year, the country's crude steel output declined 10.5 percent to 11.2 million tons.

Globally, crude steel production climbed 4.8 percent from January to April compared to the same period in 2018, reaching some 600 million tons, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel).

China maintained its lead as the top steel producers with a 10.3 percent year-on-year rise, leading to a total production of 315 million tons, worldsteel data showed.

Crude steel is an unrefined metal used in the construction industry.