Chemical Sector Shows Strong Export Performance

Adil Pelister, Chairman of the Board of the Istanbul Chemical Substances and Products Exporters Association (İKMİB), issued a written assessment today regarding Turkey's first-quarter 2021 growth data announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

Pelister noted the following in his assessment:

"The Turkish economy made a strong and positive start to 2021 with 7% growth in the first quarter. Our country, which demonstrated exceptional growth performance in the first quarter, is expected to conclude the year with positive growth of around 5%. Both leading indicators and record-breaking export figures have given us positive signals regarding growth. We see that net exports contributed 1.1 percentage points to growth. Additionally, while the industrial sector grew 11.7% in the first quarter, manufacturing expanded 12.2%. Our chemistry sector, which supplies raw materials and intermediate products to 27 sectors, is demonstrating strong performance in both production and exports. The capacity utilization of the chemical industry in the first quarter was 75.35%, slightly higher than the general manufacturing capacity utilization rate.

Our chemistry sector, Turkey's second-largest exporting sector, grew 14% with exports of USD 5.31 billion in the first quarter. We can see from the record export figure of USD 2.16 billion achieved in April that our sector will maintain this momentum in the second quarter as well. Along with recovery in our export markets and increased demand, coupled with the acceleration of vaccination in our country, we hope to sustain these positive results consistently. On the other hand, since the chemistry sector is 70% dependent on imports in terms of raw materials, we need priority investments such as petrochemical projects to begin as soon as possible in our country. Prioritizing domestic and national production, transitioning to high-value-added product manufacturing, and increasing the scale of our companies are of great importance for the future of our sector. Our exporting companies may need additional capital due to high raw material prices. Therefore, we believe it is necessary to provide support such as facilitating access to finance for our companies with appropriate credit interest rates, deferring credit payments and debts, extending or deferring the GEKAP declaration period. Following the pandemic period, we will continue to work harder, increase production, and boost our exports."