Turkish construction firms awarded $7.5 bln in contracts abroad

ANKARA

Turkish contractors were awarded a total of 110 projects worth $7.5 billion abroad in the first six months this year, the Trade Ministry has said.

This marked a 63 percent increase compared with the January-June period of 2022.

The average size of the contracts awarded to Turkish contractors in foreign countries was $68.1 billion, data from the ministry showed.

Between 1972 and June 2023, Turkish contractors have undertaken a total of 11,758 projects in 133 countries, with a total worth of $480.5 billion.

The $10 billion mark was surpassed in 2005 for the first time, and in 2012, the value of contracts Turkish companies were awarded reached an all-time high of $31.7 billion.

“Last year, despite all the problems, such as the unfavorable global economic environment and the war between Ukraine and Russia, Turkish companies were awarded 492 projects worth a total of $19.1 billion,” the ministry said.

It noted that the number of projects awarded abroad increased in the past years because Turkish companies carried out smaller projects in foreign countries. “The average size of the projects assumed fluctuated because of those smaller projects,” it explained.

Over the past five decades, Russia has been the largest foreign market for Turkish contractors.

Local construction companies have undertaken $97.97 billion worth of projects in Russia between 1972 and July 2022, accounting for 20.4 percent of all projects undertaken abroad.

Turkmenistan came second at $50.9 billion, followed by Iraq at $33.2 billion. In Libya, Turkish companies have been awarded $30.3 billion worth of projects since 1972.

Kazakhstan, $27.9 billion, and Saudi Arabia, $25.2 billion and Algeria, $20.5 billion, were other major markets for Turkish contractors.

In Europe and the U.S., Turkish contractors assumed $40.7 billion and $4.2 billion worth of projects, respectively, over the same period.

Last year, Russia topped the list at $2.34 billion, but Turkish companies were also awarded $1.5 billion, $936 million and $649 million worth of projects in Romania, Poland and Hungary.

Housing projects were the main field of business, accounting for 13.9 percent - or $66.6 billion - of all projects Turkish companies assumed since 1972.

Highway/tunnel/bridge projects were the second largest source of income at $65.3, followed by power plants at $40.96 billion. The share of airport projects was 6.4 percent or $30.8 billion.

Last year, housing projects and highways/tunnels/bridges claimed the first two spots in the list, however, railway projects awarded to Turkish companies ranked third at $1.7 billion.

In 2022, 42 Turkish companies made it to the ENR’s prestigious top 250 international contractors list, up from 40 in the previous year. Some 79 Chinese and 41 American firms were featured on the 2022 list.

The top 250 contractors’ total international revenues stood at $420.4 billion, and the Turkish companies’ share in that was 5.1 percent or $20.4 billion.