TİM President Gülle Assesses 2018 Export Figures

TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle, commenting on 2018 export figures and outlining 2019 targets, said: "We will reach and even surpass the export target of USD 182 billion set for 2019. By maintaining the momentum we achieved in goods exports last year, we will implement innovations in exports by focusing on critical areas such as service exports, transit trade, digitalization in exports and e-exports. As TİM, we have designated 2019 as the 'Year of Sustainability and Innovation in Exports'" he said. Exporters reached an all-time high December export figure of USD 13.9 billion, up 0.4 percent compared to the same period last year, and in full-year 2018 achieved USD 168.1 billion, breaking a Republic-era record. Thus, exporters set monthly records in 10 months of 2018. Noting that 2019 is likely to be more challenging given current global developments tied to rising protectionist policies and intensifying competition, Gülle continued: "For 2019, the key developments we will monitor as the export community include Trade Wars, Brexit, EU economic activity and external demand, as well as developments in our target markets of Russia, India, Mexico and China.

In addition, we will closely monitor the decisions of the world's leading central banks and carefully track their potential impact on currency values of countries. We are aware that 2019 will see not only economic and trade risks but also political and geopolitical risks in the foreground.

To minimize the impact of these risks on Turkey's exports and to sustain our 2018 success, we must enter 2019 with new strategies, we have said. In this framework, we will share the work we have done with the public within 2 weeks. We will publish an Export Report aimed at our country's exports under 4 main headings, and we will evaluate and update the report each quarter." Noting that very significant achievements were recorded in 2018, Gülle said: "This year the number of countries to which we exported over USD 1 billion increased to 39. New additions to the list are Switzerland, Libya, India, Portugal, Qatar and the Czech Republic. The number of provinces exporting over USD 1 billion rose to 17. In addition to 2017, our provinces of Eskişehir and Kahramanmaraş crossed the USD 1 billion threshold. Looking at sectors, we see that 23 of our sectors exceeded USD 1 billion in exports this year. Looking at the number of firms, 15,743 companies exported for the first time this year. On the other hand, 10 of our sectors broke all-time records this year. Steel sector with 36 percent, Jewelry with 35 percent, Olive and Olive Oil with 24 percent, and Machinery sector with 20 percent were the sectors with the highest export growth," he said.

December Export Data

In December, the Automotive sector stood out again with USD 2.5 billion. This sector was followed by Chemicals with USD 1 billion 514 million and Steel sector with USD 1 billion 462 million. By country groups, the European Union ranked first with a 47.6 percent share. Exports to the EU reached USD 6.5 billion in December. Countries with the highest export growth rates were Libya with 142 percent export growth, Hong Kong with 89 percent growth and Mexico with 71 percent growth. Looking at provincial exports, the top 5 provinces with the highest exports were Istanbul, Kocaeli, Bursa, Izmir and Ankara respectively. In December, exports showed 17 percent growth in volume terms, reaching 11.8 million tonnes. Exports in TRY reached TRY 4 billion. The number of countries to which exports were made in TRY was 172.