Exports up 3.6 pct on defense orders

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

This file picture shows manufacturing facilities of Otokar for armoured vehicles. The defense sales supported exports in June while automotive sales abroad contracted.

Turkey’s exports in June were up 3.59 percent when compared to the same period last year, reaching a total of $11.8 billion, Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TİM) Chairman Mehmet Büyükekşi said yesterday in a press conference held at the Rize Chamber of Trade in the northeastern province of Rize.

“Our exports in the first six months of 2012 were up 11.28 percent when compared to the same period last year, and reached a figure of $72.9 billion,” Büyükekşi said. In the last 12 months, Turkey’s exports have gone up 14.07 percent and reached $142.3 billion, he added.

Exports in June were supported by export increases in the defense sector of 94.5 percent, the jewelry sector of 44 percent, and in the steel industry with 15 percent, while automotive exports, which registered the largest exports volume, contracted 9.1 percent compared with the same month last year. The automotive sector registered $1.6 billion in exports last month, followed by the steel industry with $1.5 billion. The ready-to-wear industry took the third spot with $1.4 billion, despite contracting 4.1 percent.

Exports in the January-June period amounted to nearly $73 billion with 12.3 percent growth, according to the TİM data. The figure exceeded $142 billion, with 14 percent growth, for the last 12 months.

“The exports figure for the first six months of this year indicates that [Turkey] will surpass the exports target stated in the medium-term program. The export volume for the past 12 months is at $142.3 billion, while [the official] target is $148.5 billion,” Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan said yesterday in a written statement.

The share of the agriculture sector was nearly 13 percent, with $1.53 billion in total exports volume in June. The industry sector took the lion’s share, with 83.6 percent, registering $9.9 billion of exports, while exports in the mining industry constituted nearly 3.5 percent with $411 million. Tobacco recorded the highest growth in exports with 120 percent.