Import of Products Containing Organic
Pigments to Turkey
First of all, I should underline that the given annual import values and their changes have been obtained and evaluated through the Foreign Trade Statistics page of TurkStat.
According to Turkish Customs statistics, the value of products containing organic pigments imported into Turkey has decreased from 44 million USD to less than 30 million US Dollars within the last ten years. Organic pigment-containing products are recorded under the subgroup of custom 12 of HS code of 320417.
These products consist mainly of synthetic dyes, masterbatches, OEM paints/pastes, and pigment pastes. However, we understood that following our communications with many companies, many organic pigments belonging to subgroup 11 were given under subgroup 12.
It is understood that the opposite is also true in the group of organic pigments. Figure
1 shows annual imports value in USD and Figure 2 shows the possible distribution of products for 2021.
While the share of European countries decreased from 90% to 81% in 10 years, the percentage of Asian countries increased from 9% to only 16%. The increase in organic pigments imported from Asian countries is much higher.
There are imports of products containing organic pigments from 2 free zones in Turkey, and
the products brought to the country from these free zones are recorded within subgroup 12 of HS code 3201417. The value of products from free zones has decreased from 13 million USD in 2011 to 5.5 million USD today.
The most significant part of the decline observed in the free zones was recorded in Çorlu European free zone. Organic pigment-containing products importation from Corlu European Free Zone was 13 million USD, but it fell below 5,5 million US dollars. Another decline occurred in the Atatürk Airport Free Zone.
The importation from this region has decreased from half a million US dollars to less than 40 thousand US dollars. There is not enough information about the type of product coming from here. The largest source is Germany, and the value of products containing organic pigments from Germany to Turkey has decreased from 10 million US dollars to less than 5 million USD in 10 years.
The type of products coming from Germany consists of a wide range of products, from pigment pastes, OEM paints, masterbatch products, etc.
The second largest supplier of products containing organic pigments was Belgium, with 3.4 million US dollars in 2012. In 2021, the value of the products from Belgium decreased to less than 100 thousand US dollars.
Similarly, the export of the Netherlands, which used to be at the level of 2.8 million USD, has decreased to 220 k USD. The main products supplied by these two countries are mainly machine color pastes but also contain OEM paints and many other products.
France and Italy are two European countries that maintain their export levels of over a million USD even though their exports show some fluctuations during the last ten years. The products coming from these countries consist of many different dyes and pastes,
especially masterbatch and ink. Portugal is another European country with over one million USD in exporting to Turkey.
The products coming from Portugal are mainly textile dyes. Romania also has large exportation to Turkey. The products imported from Romania are masterbatch, and we found that the most significant portion of this importation is recorded under subgroup 11 of HS Code 320417.
Austria is another masterbatch supplier, and similarly, importation is recorded in subgroup 11 and partially in 12. Sweden, Norway, and Finland are 3 Nordic Countries for pigment-containing product suppliers. It’s estimated that the products imported from these countries are internal businesses of 2 international companies.
Although the export from Sweden shows fluctuations and declines over the last ten years, it has risen to over 4 million dollars. Similarly, it was seen that products imported from Norway and Finland increased to over one million dollars in 2021 from each Norway and Finland.
It is seen that the share of the Far East in the imports of products containing organic pigment is limited compared to the pigment import figures. In10 years, exports from China increased from 1 million USD to only 2 million USD. Unlike China, Indian exports of products containing organic pigments have increased from half a million dollars to one and a half million dollars.
It is estimated that imports from 2 countries were predominantly pigments and were mistakenly recorded in subgroup 12 instead of group 11. As a result, while the pigment production of Asian countries, and therefore Turkey’s organic pigment imports from these countries, increased significantly, the supply of pigment-containing products from these
countries remained limited.
The main reason is that the products containing pigments consist of more specific
products and include wide varieties. On the other hand, it is understood that a significant part of the products containing pigment originating from Europe has started to be produced in the country.
This result is derived from the fact that the import quantities of these products are decreasing while the imports of organic pigments are increasing.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gürses Öner
Regional Sales Manager
Sudarshan Chemical Industries Ltd.
