Türkiye’s overseas shipments saw a limited decline in November on a high base effect as well as lower energy and gold exports, while imports jumped, a top trade official said on Monday.
Exports fell by 3.1% to $22.3 billion, while imports rose by 2.4% to $29.6 billion, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat told a meeting in the capital Ankara to announce the preliminary figures.
“There is a slight decrease in the export figure compared to a high base effect of $23 billion in exports last year. The process of increasing our total goods exports continues both in general and in the 11-month total,” Bolat said.
The decrease in exports was influenced by the decline in crude oil prices, which reduced the prices of processed petroleum products, the decline in unprocessed gold exports, and the decrease in the euro/dollar exchange rate, the minister noted.
“The prices of Brent and crude oil were well below last year’s averages in September, October and November … This is good for our imports because we are a country that meets approximately 85% of our oil needs through imports,” said Bolat.
“However, we are also a country that processes and sells oil. The decrease in oil prices has also led to a decrease in our energy exports for the last three months. The approximately 2.5-month maintenance of Türkiye’s second-largest refinery also resulted in a loss of about $500 million in these three months.”
Bolat said that fluctuations in gold exports and declines in the euro/dollar exchange rates also exert downward pressure on exports.
The rise in imports in November stemmed from purchases of gold, energy, and iron-steel products, said the minister.
The foreign trade deficit widened by 23.3% year-over-year last month to $7.4 billion, the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) data showed.
Germany, Türkiye’s top export market, received $1.7 billion worth of Turkish goods, followed by the United States with $1.47 billion and the United Kingdom with $1.3 billion.
On the other hand, Russia was the main source of Turkish imports with $3.7 billion, followed by China with $3.6 billion and Germany with $2.3 billion.
From January through November, exports rose by 2.5% year-over-year to $238.5 billion. Imports slipped by 6.4% to $311.7 billion.
The trade gap narrowed by 27% to $73.2 billion, according to the data.
Sales to Israel plunge
Goods imports have decreased by $24.8 billion in the past year, said Bolat. “This means that our foreign trade deficit has decreased by approximately 30.6 and fell to $79.3 billion over the last year.”
The annualized exports increased by 2.3% as of November, achieving a net increase of $5.9 billion in goods exports over the past year, according to the minister.
The goal is to keep the foreign trade deficit under $80 billion this year, Bolat stated, adding that the ratio of exports to imports rose to 76.7% in the past year as of November.
The automotive sector increased its exports by $2.3 billion in the first 11 months, followed by steel by $1.1 billion, hazelnut and related products by $719 million, electrical and electronics by $511 million, and chemicals by $500 million.
On the other hand, gold and jewelry exports plunged by $10 billion from January through November, said Bolat.
Bolat mentioned that the sector with the biggest increase in imports over the 11 months was the defense and aviation industry, with $855 million, followed by ready-made clothing and apparel, with $639 million, and leather and leather products, with $181 million.
Exports to the European Union (EU), Türkiye’s largest trading partner, saw a 4% increase in the January-November period, nearing $100 billion, the minister added. Imports from the bloc decreased by 9.6%.
Shipments to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries rose by 6.2%, reaching $63.2 billion, said Bolat. “We exported $14.2 billion to the members of the Organization of Turkic States with a 12.3% increase and $4.9 billion to the non-EU Balkan countries with a 17.5% increase.”
Exports to the U.K. rose by $2.5 billion in the first 11 months, followed by increases to Saudi Arabia at $1.3 billion, the U.S. at $1.3 billion, the Netherlands at $843 million, and Egypt at $803 million.
Sales to Israel plunged by $3.5 billion, according to Bolat, after Türkiye halted trade in May over its relentless attacks on Gaza.
Sales to Russia fell by $2.1 billion and Germany by $632 million. On the other hand, imports from Switzerland shrank by $9.1 billion.
Exports are among the priority areas the Turkish government seeks to rely on as they rebalance the economy’s growth composition.
As part of its medium-term program, the government had set an export target of $267 billion for 2024. Shipments hit a record $256 billion in the whole of 2023.
TIM Chair Mustafa Gültepe said the foreign exchange parity had a negative impact on exports totaling about $121.5 million.
“We have entered the last month of the year. We are up 2.5% in exports over 11 months. Of course, we desired much more. To reach our 2028 goals, we need to grow our exports by double digits every year. However, the slow demand in global markets, especially in Europe, had a negative impact on us,” said Gültepe.
“We hope to overcome problems by 2025. If the obstacles that slow us down are removed, I can say that we can confidently progress toward our $280 billion target in 2025.”
