Turkey's exports hits 6-year high in July

by Tuba Sahin and Dilara Zengin

MANISA, Turkey

Turkey's exports soared over 31 percent annually to reach nearly $11.5 billion in July, the highest in the last six years, the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM) said Tuesday.

The association said in a statement that the value of total exports for the last 12 months also increased by 7.5 percent to over $150 billion, compared to the same period last year.

Mehmet Buyukeksi, who heads TIM, said the country's export nearly 89 billion in the first seven months of the year, up by 10.7 percent compared to the same period last year.

Among the top 20 countries for Turkey's exports in July, Russia showed the highest 95.7 percent increase, Buyukeksi said.

The exports to EU member countries showed a 29.1 percent year-on-year increase, making for 51.1 percent of Turkey’s total exports.

The organization added that Turkish exports to the top five countries – Germany, the U.K., Italy, and the U.S. -- were on the rise.

“Germany remained at the first place among the five countries, with a 28.2 percent increase in exports this month. We are happy to see that the latest political tensions between the two countries did not affect our trade,” Buyukeksi said.

“We will not let anyone destroy the environment which contributes to our gross domestic product (GDP) growth,” said Nihat Zeybekci, the Turkish economy minister.

In July, the automotive sector contributed to the highest export with $2.4 billion, up by 41.1 percent annually.

It was followed by clothing and chemical sectors which contributed $1.5 billion and $1.2 billion respectively in the month.

The most remarkable increase among industrial products was seen in ship and yacht sector exports which enjoyed a four-fold rise.