According to the provisional foreign trade statistics compiled by the Turkish Statistical Institute(TUIK)and the Turkish Undersecretariat of Customs,in November this year Turkey's foreign trade deficit increased to$7.16 billion compared to$5.5 billion in October this year.In the iron and steel sector,Turkey's foreign trade deficit was$709 million in November,decreasing from$724 million recorded in October.

In November this year,Turkey's iron and steel exports totaled$831.5 million,decreasing by 13.6 percent from October and down 0.7 percent year on year.Iron and steel ranked fifth among the products of the country with the highest export value,while motor vehicles and parts was the sector with the highest export walue with$1.35 billion in November.

Meanwhile,in November exports of articles of iron or steel,which ranked eight among the products with the highest export value,rose by 18.7 percent month on month and were up 35.4 percent compared to November 2011,amounting to$610.25 million.

In the first 11 months of 2012,the country's iron and steel exports stood at$10.5 billion,while its exports of articles of iron or steel amounted to$5.5 billion,increasing by 3.1 percent and up 5.8 percent respectively,both compared to the corresponding period of 2011.