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Turkiye: Machinery exports exceeded $16 billion

Turkiye’s machinery exports increased by 7.3% in the January-August period compared to the same period of the previous year and reached $16.1 billion.

According to the data of the Machinery Exporters’ Association (MAİB), Turkiye’s machinery exports continued last month. January-August exports of the machinery manufacturing industry reached $16.1 billion. The increase in exports was 7.3% compared to the same period of the previous year.

Machinery exports to Germany, which declined in July, rose again in August, and when the last 8 months are taken into account, total machinery exports to Germany and the USA reached $3 billion.

Russia, which continues to break a record in Turkiye’s machinery exports and has an increase of 28.2%, has signaled that it will overtake the United Kingdom and France before the end of the year and will be placed in the fourth place among the countries importing the most machinery from Turkiye.

“We have to accelerate the transformation in energy”

Kutlu Karavelioglu, Chairman of the Machinery Exporters’ Association, said that it is natural for European countries, which face energy shortages in almost all areas of life, to want to benefit from Turkiye’s production infrastructure and competitive prices.

Karavelioglu stated that energy is a problem not only for Europe but also for the whole world and that it is not cheap.

“While we are pleased with the substantial subsidization of energy in our country, we cannot ignore how long and at what cost this situation can be sustained. In a situation where energy costs approach their real levels, we have to accelerate the transformation in sectors that cannot remain competitive and meet the investment needs rapidly.”

“Best candidate for forward for machine building is Turkiye”

Kutlu Karavelioglu, emphasizing the importance of value-added production, said, “Machinery manufacturing, which is one of our sectors with the lowest import dependency, is 6th in the OECD, thanks to its 76% domestic rate, as well as its low energy need and carbon emissions, stands out as the best candidate for striker for Turkiyein this struggle where European countries have deficits in defense.”

Pointing out that it should not be forgotten that the EU, which is of critical importance for exports, will add provisions for the protection of climate, environment and labor rights to its future trade agreements, Karavelioglu said that trade with the EU brings new duties to businesses on sustainability, and that they should devote more of their energies to these issues.

Karavelioglu mentioned the social responsibilities brought by European countries to the companies they import and the Supply Chain Law prepared by Germany to protect human rights in global supply chains. “Our machinery sector, with its position at the most advanced level in integration with the EU industry, is the most ready actor for this development in Turkiye. Our sectoral culture holds all manufacturers responsible, not just exporters, for decent work.”

“Except for China, our machinery foreign trade does not open”

Machinery Exporters’ Association President Karavelioglu pointed out that machinery imports reached $2.8 billion with an increase of 9% in July, and used the following statements:

“Machine imports increased by 6.5% in the last 12 months and increased to $35.2 billion. At the end of the year, our machinery foreign trade deficit will be close to $10 billion and this difference will be due to the machinery foreign trade deficit with China. Unfortunately, our machine trade with this country continues unilaterally, Turkiye always buys, never sells. In the popular phrase, ‘Our machinery foreign trade, except for China, does not open’. At a time when advanced countries include workers’ rights and subsidies in their import and public procurement legislation in order to protect all manufacturing sectors, especially machinery, from unfair competition in the Far East, our failure to tighten up measures may have irreparable results.”

Source: Trthaber / Translated by Irem Yildiz

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