Turkey’s foreign trade gap widens in October

ANKARA

Containers are carried at a Free Trade Zone in this file photo. Turkey’s foreign trade deficit rose to $7.3 billion in October. AP Photo

Turkey’s foreign trade deficit rose to $7.3 billion in October, from $5.5 billion in the same month in 2012, representing a 31.8 percent increase, according to figures revealed by state-run statistics body TÜİK on Nov. 29.

Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan said the decrease in export was due to the Eid al-Adha Holiday, a drop in global demand and a loss in gold and iron-steel products due to an embargo imposed on Iran.
Exports fell to $12.1 billion, an 8.2 percent drop, from October 2012 to October 2013, while imports rose to $19.4 billion with a 3.7 percent increase.

The export coverage of imports fell to 62.1 percent from 70.2 percent during the same period.
Exports to the European Union rose to $5.3 billion, a 0.2 percent increase, during the period in question.

Çağlayan stated that while exports volume in the first ten months was $124.5 billion and imports volume was $207.1 billion, the export coverage of imports was 60.1 percent. “There is a 1.2 percent in fall in our ten-month exports. There are 20 countries that divulged foreign trade data between January and October. Their average of rise in exports in this period was 2.5 percent. We also tried to raise our exports. But a slowdown in demand worldwide and the situation in Iran (sanctions imposed by the United States) saw a decrease in Turkey’s exports. However, we see positive developments for us in Europe,” he said.

Turkey’s main export trading partner, Germany, remained strong with $1.1 billion in bi-lateral trade, a figure representing a 4.8 percent rise. Iraq ranked second at $1 billion, followed by the United Kingdom at $805 million and Russia at $615 million.

The top country for Turkey’s imports was China at $1.9 billion, followed by Germany at $1.82 billion, Russia at $1.81 billion and Italy at $1.1 billion.