Turkey’s textile exports decrease by 51.7%

In April, Turkey’s exports in both general and textiles and raw materials industry suffered a serious decline. It’s stated that the markets being closed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the distribution chain disruptions, and the constraints on various materials were the factors that led to this decline. Turkey’s overall export value in April 2020 was at $9 billion, fell by 41.4 percent. During the January-April period of 2020, the sector’s exports shrank by 16.1% to reach $2.8 billion. While the share of the textile sector in total exports in April was 4.6%, this share was listed as 5.6 percent in the January-April period. Textile exports dropped by 51.7% in April.

According to a published by İTKİB, the textile and raw materials industry achieved a rise as compared to the figures of the prior year with the export worth $834 million in January 2020 and $835 million in February 2020. On the other hand, in March 2020, the export figures began to lag behind the previous year, after the World Health Organization announced the new coronavirus outbreak because of the pandemic, and especially after European countries took prohibitive decisions.

The textile industry, which exported goods worth $898 million in March 2019, managed to reach only $754 million in the same month in 2020, with a small drop. On the other hand, the loss of exports in April was significant. The industry exported goods worth $857 million in April 2019, but recorded a value of $414 million in April 2020, with an export reduction of more than 50%. The sector’s export decrease on a monthly basis was 44.4%.

Significant export state markets

Concerning the exports of the industry in terms of nations, Germany remained the main market. In the January-April period, textile exports to Germany dropped by 7.5 percent and attained a value of $252 million.

Italy was the second country with the maximum export volume in the industry. Textile and raw materials exports to Italy diminished by 64.3% in April to 25 million dollars. In the first four months of 2020, this export decreased by 25 percent to $214 million.

Exports into the US, the third most important textile market, shrank by 21.4 percent in April to $35 million. In the first four months of 2020, exports were values at $167 million dollars, with a drop of 7.7 percent. In April, there have been serious losses in the remaining part of the sector’s top ten markets; Britain ($14.7 million, fell 62.8%), Bulgaria ($13 million, plunged 65.5 percent ); Spain ($12.3 million, fell by 58.1%), Egypt ($11.4 million, plunged 60.8 percent ); The Netherlands ($13.8 million, down 50.9 percent ), Poland ($13.9 million, down 34.8%), and Belarus ($6.3 million, declined 70.8%).