Turkey’s textile exports appeared to be moving ahead in 2017, with strong growth indicated in 2018. The overall year-on-year increase in March was 10.5%, according to data from the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TİM).
Exports of textiles and raw materials rose 13.8% in the year to March 2018, to US$9.03bn. Exports grew by 5.7% in January, 5.4% in February and 4.9% in March, according to TİM.
In 2017, the country’s textile exports were worth US$7.9bn, of which 52% was trade with the EU. Cem Altan, a board member at the Istanbul-based Ready-Made Garment Exporters’ Association (IHKIB), said there was a solid “increase in knitted fabric and technical textiles exports to the EU in 2017”. He noted that, since 2016, all textile exports to the EU – from fibre to yarn, fabrics and other textiles – has been steadily increasing.
“A lot of European companies are importing fabric for producing in their own countries, which is why demand is increasing,” says Altan.
Turkey’s annual textile exports have more than doubled from US$4.1bn in 2010, following significant investment in technology and upskilling. But, like much of the Turkish economy, the sector took a hit after an attempted coup against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in July 2016.
Altan says: “2017 was a difficult year, following on the uncertainty and crises of 2016, but our supply chain is competitive, and increasingly independent from political concerns.”
Turkey wants to significantly expand its textile and apparel exports, to exceed US$50bn by 2023, Yusuf Gecü, chairman of the Merter Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MESIAD) in Istanbul, told the Turkish newspaper the Daily Sabah. Currently the average export value per kilo is US$5 in textiles, and US$15 in apparel, according to MESIAD.
Along with boosting textile and garment exports, Turkey has been increasing exports of textile and clothing supplies (such as threads, buttons, zips and other related accessories), which rose from US$868.5m in 2016, to US$909.8m in 2017.
However, the country has been struggling to bolster cotton production to feed its mills, dropping from being the sixth-largest global producer, at 900,000 tonnes in 2010, to become the eighth-largest, at 880,000 tonnes in 2016, according to the TİM. Turkey is the fourth-largest cotton importer after Bangladesh, China and Vietnam.
Apparel exports were steady in 2017, up by only 0.5% to US$17bn year-on-year, according to IHKIB figures. However, exports have grown by 13.5% in the first three months of 2018. “This indicates a more positive export performance in 2018,” says Altan. TİM is forecasting clothing exports of US$19bn this year.
Altan said that exports to the EU would continue to drive growth, with the economic bloc accounting for 71% of apparel exports, while the biggest increases in 2017 were to Asia. “While the export value is still low, we are capable of increasing exports to Asia, which are leading producers themselves,” says Altan.
Germany, Spain and the UK continue to be Turkey’s leading apparel export markets. Germany accounts for 19% of overall exports, at US$3.2bn, up 1.9% year-on-year in 2017. Exports to Spain rose by 19.8%, while exports to the UK, which account for 12% of total apparel exports, decreased by 3.4% in 2017.
Source: www.wtin.com