Turkiye’s exports of furniture, paper and forestry products amounted to $4 billion in the January-June period.
According to the information compiled by AA correspondent from the data of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), Turkiye’s exports decreased by 1.8% in the first half of the year compared to the same period of 2022 and decreased to $123 billion 377 million.
In the first half of the year, exports of furniture, paper and forestry products decreased by 3.4% compared to the same period of 2022 and fell to $3 billion 982 million. The earthquakes on February 6 and the 9-day Eid al-Adha holiday in June were effective in the partial decline.
During this period, furniture, paper and forest products were exported to 203 countries, regions and islands. While the amount of exports exceeded $100 million in 12 countries, it was realized in the range of $10-99 million in 52 countries.
The highest export was to Iraq, followed by Israel
While the highest export was made to Iraq with $497.2 million in the January-June period, it was observed that 12.5% of the total export sales of the sector was made to this country.
Iraq was followed by Israel with $208.2 million, the United Kingdom with $199.2 million, Germany with $172.3 million, Iran with $147.8 million and Libya with $145.7 million.
USA with $145.1 million, France with $125.3 million, Morocco with $116 million and the Russian Federation with $115.7 million were among the top 10 markets. Bulgaria and Georgia also stood out as countries where exports exceeded $100 million.
Exports to Saudi Arabia increased by 5,735%
In the first half of the year, the highest increase was seen in Saudi Arabia with 5,735.1% among the markets where the sector exports more than $1 million. Exports to this country rose from $1.03 million to $60.04 million.
It was followed by Latvia with 274.2%, Belarus with 93.3%, Ukraine with 87.6%, Afghanistan with 84.5%, Brazil with 82.6% and Russia with 78.2%. Tajikistan and Serbia were among the countries where exports increased by more than 50%.
The countries where exports fell the most were Guatemala ($1.24 million) with 73.7%, Colombia ($1.93 million) with 72.1%, and Ecuador ($1.44 million) with 64.4%.
“We will continue our work in the second half of the year without slowing down”
Erkan Ozkan, President of the Istanbul Furniture, Paper and Forest Products Exporters’ Association, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they made a strong start to 2023, but the earthquake they experienced in February, which was described as the disaster of the century, put them very hard.
Ozkan said, “After the earthquake, the recovery of our producers and their tendency to export again, the 6-month process was left behind with intense work. Despite this, we achieved an export of $4 billion in the first 6 months with intense efforts on both the production and export side. We want to achieve our goal successfully by maintaining the stability and energy we have achieved in the second half of the year.”
Expressing that the summer season was stagnant for many sectors, but there was activity for them, Ozkan made the following statements:
“Especially with the opening of the wedding season, there has been a movement on the furniture side in the domestic and foreign markets. In the first 6 months of the year, we experienced various pauses due to the earthquake, as well as holidays and public holidays. We are more comfortable for the second half of the year, we will continue our work without slowing down. Within the scope of the Far Countries Strategy, we will take part in fairs all over the world, especially in autumn, from Mexico to Mauritania, from China to Senegal, from Moscow to the Gulf countries, either as exhibitors, UR-GE delegations or national participation. Thanks to the landings we will make in countries, our producers will also find the opportunity for new collaborations. In this way, we hope to surpass last year’s figures and reach our target of $10 billion.”
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz