Business Desk :
Turkish exporters have left behind yet another month on a high note, reaffirming the views that the annual target would be achieved even before the year-end.
Yet, industry representatives are said to be revising their targets as new orders drop amid signs of a global slowdown and inflationary pressure, reports Daily Sabah.
Turkey’s foreign sales jumped 13.4% year-over-year last month to $18.6 billion (TL 334.13 billion), marking the best July exports ever, Trade Minister Mehmet Mu? said Wednesday. Imports rose at a much faster pace, jumping 40.8% to $29.1 billion.
Exporters have managed to achieve record sales in each month so far this year and in 21 of the last 23 months.
Sales rose more than 19% year-over-year in the first seven months of 2022 to $144.4 billion, Mu? said, while imports were up 40.7% to $206.4 billion.
But deteriorating global conditions, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, have raised concerns for the rest of the year. Russia’s invasion of its neighbor has sent global commodity prices soaring, endangering Turkey’s economic program that aims to tackle high inflation with a current account surplus.
The trade deficit surged by 144.5% to $10.6 billion in July, data from the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) showed. The shortfall in the first seven months jumped by 143% to $61.9 billion, mainly due to rising energy import costs.
Exports had ended 2021 at $225.4 billion, a figure that government and economists expected to reach $250 billion this year.
The 12-month rolling exports have topped $248 billion as of July, said Mustafa Gültepe, head of TIM.
“At the point where we are now, we see that we will exceed our annual export target of $250 billion and leave behind a very important threshold in 2022,” Gültepe said.
The chemicals industry topped the list among sectors with $2.9 billion worth of sales in July, the data showed, a 54% year-over-year increase. Automotive followed with $2 billion, while ready-to-wear and steel industries reported $1.6 billion of exports.
