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Feb 5, 2023

Turkey’s exports hit all-time monthly high for 3rd straight month

Turkish exports have hit an all-time monthly high for the third consecutive month in February, the country’s trade minister announced Tuesday (March 2).

Sales surged 9.6% year-on-year to over $16 billion (TL 117.23 billion) in the month, Ruhsar Pekcan told a meeting in the capital Ankara.

Turkey made a flying start to 2021 thanks to its strong performance for the second month in a row, Pekcan said.

Imports rose 9.8% to $19.4 billion, bringing the trade deficit to $3.4 billion, the data showed.

The export-to-import coverage ratio was 82.7% this February, the minister noted.

"In the first two months of this year the ratio rose to 82.9% from 79.5 a year ago," she added.

The data follows the highest monthly figures in January and December as sales surpassed $15 billion and $17.84 billion, respectively.

Pekcan recalled that Turkey joined China to become the only two Group of 20 countries that managed to expand last year despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The economy grew a less-than-expected but still strong 5.9% in the fourth quarter and 1.8% in 2020 as a whole, the official data showed Monday.

The outbreak led to a 6.26% drop in 2020 exports as Turkey closed the year with $169.5 billion in foreign sales, exceeding the target of $165.9 billion in the medium-term program.

Imports were up 4.3% to reach $219.4 billion. The trade deficit widened by 69.12% to $49.9 billion last year.

Rising sales to EU

The exports rebounded rapidly in the third and fourth quarters last year, Pekcan said, recalling that sales increased by 6.7% in the October-December period to $51.3 billion, exceeding the $50 billion threshold for the first time.

The country took a 3.7% share in the European Union’s total imports in 2020, according to EU statistical body Eurostat. This, Pekcan said, enabled Turkey to outperform Norway, South Korea and Japan to rank sixth in the bloc’s overall imports.

"Since 2015, Turkey has been the only country to increase its share in EU imports for five consecutive years," the minister said.

TIM’s Gülle said they conduced 55 virtual trade delegations and 10 virtual fairs in 50 countries since May last year, looking to continue with face-to-face delegations as of the summer months.

Works on logistics centers near completion

Works on the logistics centers to be established abroad to facilitate exporters’ access to other markets is approaching completion, he noted.

"We plan to establish these logistics centers in three cities in the United States and Africa's Ghana. Bureaucratically, we have brought the documents to the final stage," Gülle informed.

"I believe that these logistics centers will double our exports to the regions where they are established and will support our exporters in distant markets."

Some 1,538 firms have made their first exports ever in February, Gülle said, carrying out around $70.48 million worth of sales. A total of 40,616 companies made exports in the month.

Based on DS

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