Turkey’s machinery exports increased by 11.7% in the first 4 months of the year compared to the same period of the previous year and rose to $8.3 billion.
While exports to Germany exceeded $1 billion in the January-April period, the highest increase in exports among EU countries was in Italy with 17%.
Although exports to the USA on a quantity basis were at the same level as January-April 2021 in the first 4 months, the revenue increased by 12.6%. While machinery exports to Ukraine, where the war continues, remained at $67.7 million, this figure approached $250 million in Russia, where an increase of 17.5% was experienced.
Machinery Exporters’ Association Chairman Kutlu Karavelioglu said that they expect machinery exports to Germany to exceed $3 billion by the end of the year.
“Buyers’ new supply center is Turkey”
Kutlu Karavelioglu referred to the latest research conducted by the German Buyers’ Association (BME), which has 10 thousand members in Germany, and said:
“BME members make purchases worth €1.3 trillion a year. 75% of German enterprises surveyed believe that production will stop completely, both in themselves and in their internal suppliers, should a possible natural gas embargo come to the fore. The survey shows that German companies primarily focus their supply radar on Turkey. Buyers see Turkey as the most important supply center outside the EU countries in order to guarantee their business.”
“Orders are increasing”
Explaining that $250 million of machinery orders are received from Germany every month, Karavelioglu said, “The visits and orders from companies throughout the EU, especially Germany, to our businesses have been increasing for the last 2 months. However, we know that Germany has much more potential than the current situation. We will rapidly enrich our European customer portfolio and enrich our product portfolio.”
“Machine production increases, imports slow down”
Machinery Exporters’ Association President Karavelioglu emphasized that while machinery exports increased by 9.3% in the first quarter, the increase in imports remained at 2.8%, and said that production increased and imports slowed down.
Drawing attention to the fact that their production and investments have increased more than their rival countries, Karavelioglu explained that the increase in Turkey’s production was 32% in 2021, when the EU machinery industry achieved a production increase of 12%.
Source: Trthaber / Translated by Irem Yildiz