Turkish export transport trips regress 4 pct as trade slows down: Association

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

Turkey’s transport trips for export reasons regressed by 4 percent in 2015 compared to the previous year due to a declining trend in exports, with a further deterioration expected amid the refugee crisis and geopolitical risks, an Istanbul-based transport association said Feb. 2. 

According to data from the International Transporters Association (UND), a total of 1.5 million transport trips were made for export reasons last year.

“In parallel to a 9 percent decline in Turkey’s exports in 2015 compared to the previous year, our transport trips in this area witnessed a drop of around 4 percent,” said UND President Çetin Nuhoğlu. 

Turkey conducted over $143.9 billion in exports in 2015, an 8.7 percent decrease compared to the previous year, according to data from the Turkish Statistics Agency (TÜİK). 

Nuhoğlu said the largest decline was in the number of transport trips to the Central Asian market last year, adding that business with Russia and Iraq had plunged to almost zero amid political tensions and conflicts. 
In trips to European markets, Turkish companies have lost their market share to foreign companies, he added. 

Nuhoğlu said the sector had achieved a roughly 70 percent increase in the number of transport trips to Iran over the last two years. 

“With the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran, Turkey has been a strong candidate to become a key transit route for Iran’s trade with European markets,” he added. 

Nuhoğlu, however, noted that the sector expects the continuation of the slowdown in business amid the refugee crisis, global terror attacks and geopolitical risks in 2016. 

He also said one of the reasons Turkey’s trade with the European Union has fallen below desired levels has been extant non-tariff limitations. 

“On the road to the elimination of these limitations, we’ll continue to support the European Commission. At the same time, we’ll continue to follow the legal actions that were opened by the UND and the Exporters Assembly of Turkey (TİM) in 2015 in Austria and Hungary, as well as our complaints filed against seven countries to the European Commission,” he said.