Machinery sector’s exports at $4.3 billion in two months

ISTANBUL

Türkiye’s machinery exports, including free zones, amounted to $4.3 billion in the January-February period, according to a business group.

This marked a 4.3 percent decline compared to the same period last year.

Exports decreased by 8.8 percent in volume and 5.8 percent in value in the January-February period compared to the same period last year, said the Machinery Exporters Association (MAİB).

According to annualized data, the decline in exports remained at 1.8 percent, amounting to $24 billion in February.

The effects of the economic slowdown in Germany are being felt in the sector, the association noted, adding that there was a 14.3 percent drop in exports to the U.S. market.

“Although the decline in exports to the U.S. and Russia slowed compared to the previous month, machinery exports to Russia fell by $100 million in February under widespread sanctions. Increases in Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, Poland, and Romania partially compensated for the contraction in major markets,” it said.

The EU, striving to develop de-risking tools against U.S. tariff barriers, is likely to draw closer to Türkiye, which has an integrated production and trade system with the bloc, commented Kutlu Karavelioğlu, president of MAİB.

He noted that the industry sector expanded by 0.5 percent last year, but the machinery and equipment industry contracted by 8.5 percent.

“In addition to the ongoing weakness on the demand side, exchange rate levels which limit our competitiveness both domestically and internationally are impacting new orders and, consequently, are causing loses in our market shares that are difficult to compensate for,” he said.