According to a statement from the Machinery Exporters’ Association (MAİB), machine exports in the January-March period decreased by 2.5 percent annually to $6.9 billion.
In the first quarter, there was an increase of 25 percent in turbines and turbojets, 17 percent in heaters and furnaces, and 16 percent in textile and apparel machinery.
While the increase in exports to the United States continued, decreases were experienced in the Russian and Italian markets.
MAİB President Kutlu Karavelioğlu, whose views were included in the statement, expressed satisfaction that they passed the first quarter, which reached the peak of caution in global investments, with a limited decline in machine and equipment exports.
Karavelioğlu reminded that machinery and equipment investments have shrunk for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide last year and stated:
“With the acceleration in economies in the coming months, we expect these data to catch up with the performance of 2022. Although the effects of the trends that returned to stagnation in the last quarter of 2023 are not completely erased, we cannot speak of an alarming inertia for a sector that increased its investments by nearly 13 percent and its production by nearly 9 percent, and as a result, increased its exports by 11 percent. Thanks to its integration level with developed countries, the Turkish machinery sector will be quickly affected by the recovery that will start with interest rate cuts in the European Union and the United States. Turkey will maintain its position among the countries that achieve above-average growth rates.”
“The natural result of protective policies will be to attract investment to our country” Kutlu Karavelioğlu stated that Turkey had a trade deficit of $11.7 billion against China in machinery trade last year, stating that they faced serious difficulties in exports due to the high customs barriers applied by this country.
Karavelioğlu, explaining the obstacles encountered in this country where Turkey makes significant imports, made the following evaluations:
“On the one hand, the interest shown by the EU, which accounts for 41 percent of our exports, to our machines with the highest added value, and on the other hand, the obstacles we face in China, where we make 26 percent of our imports… The unilateral trade we have been suffering from for years has finally caused complaints from the EU as well, and we expect it to create an absolute difference in China’s view of investment in Turkey. With the measures in the import regime, in the first two months, there was a decrease of 9.1 percent in our country’s machine imports from China and 33.9 percent in imports from India. Protective policies in line with the global trend will naturally result in attracting investment to our country, especially to our sector.”
source: aa.com.tr/ prepared by Melisa Beğiç