According to the customs statistics provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), in November last year Turkey's iron ore imports amounted to 300,166 metric tons, falling by 58.8 percent compared to the previous month, recording the second consecutive strong month-on-month decrease. Turkey's iron ore imports in November were 23 percent lower compared to the same month of 2011.

Turkey's top iron ore source in November last year was again Brazil which supplied 212,662 mt of iron ore to Turkey, down 50.9 percent compared to the previous month, and up 25.6 percent compared to November 2011.

In the first 11 months of last year, Turkey imported 6.9 million mt of iron ore, increasing 9.85 percent compared to the first 11 months of 2011. The value of iron ore imports in January-November 2012 was $1 billion, down 7.1 percent compared to the same period last year.

In the period in question, Turkey's iron ore imports from Brazil constituted 61.3 percent of the country's total iron ore imports with 4.2 million mt, up 20.3 percent compared to January-November 2011.