According to the customs statistics provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), in January this year Turkey's iron ore imports decreased by 68.55 percent month on month to 291,117 mt, regressing to November 2012 levels, after increasing significantly last December on month-on-month basis. Turkey's iron ore imports in January were down 63.5 percent compared to the same month of 2012. The value of Turkey's iron ore imports in January this year was $37 million, down 73.4 percent compared to January 2012.

In January, Turkey's iron ore imports from Brazil decreased significantly both on month-on-month and o year-on-year basis, amounting to 37,836 mt, while Sweden exported 164,142 mt of iron ore to Turkey in the given month, decreasing 3.1 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.

In 2012, Turkey had imported 7.8 million mt of iron ore, increasing 18 percent compared to 2011. The value of Turkey's iron ore imports in 2012 was $1.15 billion, down 1.8 percent compared to the previous year.