2024 Recovery in Exports in the Second Half of the Year Started with Technical Textiles
Textile and raw material exports, which have recently decreased due to reasons such as global economic contraction, wars, exchange rate fluctuations and energy costs, started to increase as of the second half of 2024. The first increase in the January-September 2024 period was in the technical textiles product group. In this period, technical textile exports reached 1 billion 678 million dollars with an increase of 1.4%.
Technical textiles, as a product group with high added value, make significant contributions to Turkey’s economic growth. In the January-September period of 2024, a significant increase was observed in Turkey’s technical textile exports. This increase in exports not only increases production and employment in the sector, but also positively affects the overall performance of the country’s economy.
Sector representatives see the increase in exports as a result of R&D investments and innovative product development processes. Turkey’s becoming more competitive in the technical textile market worldwide paves the way for domestic producers to have more say in the international arena.
Experts state that if this trend continues, Turkey’s global market share in the field of technical textiles will increase and this will offer an important opportunity for the country’s economic sustainability. With the increase in exports, the growth potential of the companies in the sector and new employment opportunities also come to the agenda.
Textile and Raw Material Exports Declined by 6% in September
Exports of the Turkish textile and raw materials sector decreased by 2.7% in the January-September period compared to the same period of 2023, from USD 8.7 billion to USD 8.5 billion. In September, textile and raw materials exports fell by 6%. Exports, which were 1 billion 51 thousand dollars in September 2023, were 988 million dollars in the same month of 2024.
When the export figures were analysed on country basis, Italy, USA and Germany came to the fore among the countries to which Turkey exports the most textile and raw materials. While exports to Italy were 668 million dollars in the January-September period of 2023, this number decreased to 644 million dollars in the same period of 2024. Exports to the USA recorded an increase of 6.1% compared to the January-September period of 2023. While exports to the USA were 546 million dollars in January-September 2023, exports to the USA were 579 million dollars in the same period of 2024. Exports to Germany decreased by 7.6% from 617 million dollars to 570 million dollars.
In September 2024; Exports to Italy, USA and Germany decreased by 4.8%, 5.2% and 3.2%, respectively. Exports worth 75 million dollars were made to Italy, 71 million dollars to the USA and 67 million dollars to Germany.
The Second Most Exported Product Group: Technical Textiles
When textile and raw material exports for the January-September 2024 period are examined on the basis of product group; it is seen that the most exported product is woven fabric despite a 5.2% decrease. While 1 billion 812 million dollars of woven fabric exports were made in the January-September period of 2023, 1 billion 719 million dollars of exports were made in the same period of 2024.
Technical textiles ranked second with an increase of 1.4%. Technical textile exports, which were 1 billion 654 million dollars in the January-September period of the previous year, reached 1 billion 678 million dollars in the January-September period of 2024. Yarn exports, which ranked third, also showed an increase of 3.7%. In the 2023 January-September period, yarn exports, which was 1 billion 576 million dollars in 2023 January-September period, reached 1 billion 635 million dollars in the same period of 2024.
Technical textile exports increased by 4.6% in September
When September 2024 textile and raw material exports are analysed by product group; it is seen that the highest exports are yarn, woven fabric and technical textiles. Yarn exports, which was 191 million USD in September 2023, increased to 199 million USD in September 2024. Woven fabric exports decreased by 13.5% from 221 million to 191 million dollars.
Technical textile exports increased by 4.6%. Technical textile exports, which was 181 million dollars in September 2023, increased to 190 million dollars in September 2024.
In the January-September period of 2024, the countries with the highest technical textile exports were; USA, Germany, Italy, England and Romania, respectively. Technical textile exports worth 146.167 million dollars to the USA, 133.291 million dollars to Germany, 125.564 million dollars to Italy, 92.769 million dollars to the UK and 67.931 million dollars to Romania.
