Railways’ share in trade on the rise

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s railways’ share in the shipment of exported goods is on the rise, data compiled by state-run Anadolu Agency showed.

The value of deliveries made by the country’s railway network soared 33 percent in 2019 from the previous year to stand at $967 million.

The government’s export master plan and logistics master plan target to boost the railways’ share in the country’s trade activities.

Data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) showed that the country’s overall exports grew more than 2 percent last year compared with 2018, climbing to $180.7 billion.

Last year, sea transport accounted for around 62 percent of all goods delivered to foreign markets.

The share of road transport for exports was 28.4 percent while air transport captured another 8.4 percent, according to official statistics.

The value of goods exported via sea stood at as much as $106 billion in 2019, pointing to a 0.5 percent increase from the previous year, while exports by road exhibited a 4.2 percent annual increase to stand at $48.6 billion.

Last year, the country’s imports dropped some 9 percent from 2018 to $202.7 billion.

Sea transport’s share in imports was 54.2 percent, while the corresponding figures for road transport, air transport and railways were 16.4 percent, 14.2 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

In 2019, a total of $109.8 billion worth of goods were brought in from other markets via ships, which translated into a 17 percent decline on an annual basis.

The value of goods the country imported through road also showed a 6 percent drop to $33.2 billion.

Imports by railway and air, on the other hand, increased by 15.8 percent and 1.2 percent to $1.4 billion and $28.8 billion, respectively.

In January this year, sea transport again captured the largest share in exports with 61.2 percent (or $9 billion), followed by road with 30.1 percent ($4.44 billion) and air transport with 7.1 percent ($1 billion), according to data from the Trade Ministry.

Railways’ share was less than one percent in the first month of 2020, the ministry said.

The country’s exports climbed 6.1 percent on an annual basis to $14.77 billion in January, while imports rose by 19 percent to $19.2 billion.

Turkey targets to boost its exports to $190 billion this year. Export targets for 2021 and 2022 are $202 billion and $213 billion, respectively.