ESO Chairman Kesikbaş Comments on Export Figures

ESO Chairman Celalettin Kesikbaş Comments on Export Figures Eskişehir Sanayi Odası (ESO) Chairman Celalettin Kesikbaş, evaluating the June 2022 export figures announced by Türkiye İhracatçılar Meclisi (TİM), stated the following: "We expect Eskişehir's total exports for 2022 to exceed the 4 billion dollar level. This is a significant achievement." According to the announced data, Eskişehir's exports for the January-June period of 2022 increased by 14.6% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching USD 620.7 million. Turkey's total exports in the first 6 months increased by 20%, approaching USD 126 billion. ESO Chairman Celalettin Kesikbaş, commenting on the export figures, explained as follows: "The progress toward the USD 250 billion target that our country aims to achieve by year-end certainly makes us pleased. Based on official figures, we estimate that Eskişehir's 2022 exports will be approximately USD 1.3 billion by year-end. This figure does not include the exports of our companies operating in Eskişehir but headquartered outside Eskişehir. When we take them into account as well, we expect Eskişehir's total exports for 2022 to exceed the 4 billion dollar level. This is a significant achievement. Our manufacturers and workers have made substantial contributions to this success. Indeed, a very important portion of our exports consists of industrial products. The 10.8% increase in industrial production on an annual basis, according to the latest announced data, is based on the rise in exports."

We need to increase unit export value

"Looking at Eskişehir's export figures, we see that we exceeded the 600 million dollar level in the first 6 months of this year. The United States is our most important export partner with USD 160.4 million. It is followed by France with USD 58.8 million and Germany with USD 58.6 million. Looking at the sectors, we see that chemicals rank first with USD 85.9 million, machinery and components rank second with USD 70.9 million, and earthenware products rank third with USD 59.6 million. We know that in June, our country's unit export value rose to USD 1.41. Although more than 15% of our Eskişehir exports consist of medium-high and high-technology products, we need to increase our unit value by particularly expanding our exports based on our own brands and patents," he stated.

We should pay attention to the current account deficit

Noting that while records were broken in exports, attention should also be paid to the rise in imports, Kesikbaş concluded his remarks as follows: "The 6-month foreign trade deficit, which was USD 21.2 billion in the January-June period of 2021, reached USD 51.4 billion in the same period of 2022, with an increase of 142.5%. When energy data is excluded, the ratio of exports to imports decreased by 7.1 percentage points to 93.4%."