Turkey recorded its highest exports in May with 21.7 billion dollars

TIM President Mustafa Gültepe: I believe that we will close 2023, the 100th anniversary of the founding of our Republic, with a new record thanks to economic policies that prioritize production and exports.

Exports started to rise again in May. Turkey's exports in May increased by 14 percent compared to the same period of the previous year to 21.7 billion dollars. Thus, the highest export value was reached in May.

Mustafa Gültepe, President of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), said that the export family showed a very strong performance in May after April, when the negative reflections of global and national developments were perceived. Gültepe continued as follows.

"According to the General Trade System (GTS) records, we completed May with exports of 21.7 billion dollars. We are up 14 percent compared to the same month last year. While our exports for the last 12 months reached 254.4 billion dollars with an increase of 4.9 percent, we closed the January-May period with 102.5 billion dollars, almost even with last year. The automotive sector made the highest contribution to our exports last month with 3 billion dollars. Other sectors in the top five were chemicals ($2.5 billion), ready-to-wear clothing ($1.7 billion), electrical and electronics ($1.4 billion) and steel ($1.3 billion). We recorded remarkable increases in the exports of our olive and olive oil, ship and yacht, defense and aerospace sectors. 51 provinces increased their exports. Our top five exporting provinces were Istanbul, Kocaeli, Bursa, Izmir and Ankara. In May, 1,524 companies exported for the first time. Our unit export value increased by 15.5 percent compared to the same month of the previous year to 1.53 dollars."

PARITY EFFECT CONTRIBUTED 327 MILLION DOLLARS IN MAY

Stating that they exported to 219 countries in April, Gültepe emphasized that exports to 138 countries increased. Stating that the countries to which Turkey exports the most are Germany, the USA, the UK, Iraq and Spain, Gültepe said, "We also see remarkable increases in exports to Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates. For example, we increased our exports to Saudi Arabia 9 times compared to the same month last year. Parity had a positive impact on our exports in May after April. In May, the parity effect provided a positive value of 327 million dollars. However, since the beginning of the year, we have a loss of 645 million dollars due to the parity effect."

Reminding that the Turkish economy grew by 4 percent in the first quarter, Mustafa Gültepe said that they regret that the contribution of net exports to growth turned negative after 7 quarters. Emphasizing that increased imports, earthquakes and the economic recession in Europe were effective in this development, Gültepe concluded his words as follows:

WE WILL HOST A 500-600 PERSON BUYER DELEGATION IN OUR COUNTRY

"Germany, our biggest export partner, is technically in recession. However, the recession in Germany is not expected to last long. We think that economies in Europe will revive as the European Central Bank comes to the end of interest rate hikes. In this process, we do not stand idle and work hard to bring our exporters together with alternative markets. Every month, we organize trade delegations, mostly to distant countries, and host purchasing delegations in our country. In the coming months, we will host a buying delegation of 500-600 people, mostly from distant countries. In short, we are using all opportunities to expand our markets. With the completion of the elections in our country, the period of uncertainty has ended. Thanks to economic policies that prioritize production and exports, I believe that we will close 2023, the 100th anniversary of the founding of our Republic, with a new record."