15 Nisan 2011 Cuma

Turkey’s exports hit $9.65 billion in January

GÖKHAN KURTARAN
Foreign sales to Germany, Turkey’s main export destination, rose 19 percent in January compared with the same period last year, says Mehmet Büyükekşi (C). AA photo

Foreign sales to Germany, Turkey’s main export destination, rose 19 percent in January compared with the same period last year, says Mehmet Büyükekşi (C). AA photo
Turkey’s exports rose 22.67 percent in January compared with the same period last year to reach $9.65 billion, the chairman of the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly, or TİM, said Tuesday in the northern province of Samsun.

Turkey increased its January exports to $9.65 billion compared with $7.9 billion in the same period of last year, said TİM head Mehmet Büyükekşi. “We made a good start to the new year.”

Speaking at the press meeting on a boat in Samsun, Büyükekşi said in the last 12 months Turkey’s total export value has increased by 13.99 percent and hit $115.75 billion compared with the same period of last year.

The leading sector in January was automotives, reaching $1.49 billion, followed by ready wear and chemical products, with export volumes of $1.31 billion and $1.13 billion, respectively.

Exports in agricultural products reached $1.4 billion with a share of 14.5 percent of total exports. The volume of industrial exports, with a share of 82.4 percent, reached nearly $7.95 billion. Mining sector exports reached $296 million, with a share of 9.43 percent of overall exports.

Maritime, fisheries

“The highest rise in January was recorded by the maritime industry, with an increase of 59.27 percent, fishery products and animal products with an increase of 45.93 percent and chemical products with 44.96 percent,” said Büyükekşi, adding that the highest amount of exports was posted by Istanbul, which reported a nearly 22 percent increase compared with the previous month. Bursa, Kocaeli, İzmir, Ankara, Gaziantep, Manisa, Hatay, Denizli and Sakarya followed Istanbul, respectively, according to January figures this year.

“The highest province increase among the top 10 cities in January was achieved by [the northwestern province of] Kocaeli, with nearly 58 percent, thanks to the Turkish automotive industry,” Büyükekşi told reporters. The southwestern provinces of Hatay and Gaziantep achieved a 56 percent and 37 percent increase this month, respectively.

The southeastern province of Bingöl recorded the highest increase among all Turkish cities, with 721 percent in January this year.

The share of the United Arab Emirates in Turkey’s export volume has increased by 108 percent, followed by Jordan with 91 percent, Russia by 65 percent, Azerbaijan by 65 percent, Lebanon by 59 percent, Iraq by 57 percent and Iran by 49 percent.

Addressing participants at the meeting, Büyükekşi said Turkey’s exports have also increased by 145 percent, followed by India’s by 122 percent and Indonesia’s by 92 percent, in January.
“Foreign sales to Germany, Turkey’s main export destination, rose 19 percent in January compared with the same period last year,” said Büyükekşi, adding that exports to Italy increased by 15 percent in the same period. “Exports to France decreased by 3 percent.”

According to January TİM figures, Turkey’s exports to Spain increased by 20 percent, to Netherlands by 42 percent, to Switzerland by 31 percent and to Romania by 10 percent.

Due to turmoil in Tunisia, Turkey’s exports to the country decreased by 55 percent while exports to Egypt increased by 17 percent in January compared with the same period of last year.

Call for exchange insurance 

Turkish exporters should secure themselves against the risk of the exchange rate, the TİM head said. “We have signed a protocol with Halkbank recently to hedge their risks caused by the exchange rate,” he said. “Turkish exporters’ margin profits already low and we should not let it melt away due to the risk of the exchange rate.”

Noting that all actors in the matter have to take initiatives against the risk of a rising currency rate, Büyükekşi said, “We made our call both to the Turkish Central Bank and to Turkish exporters.”

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