Sanayi ihracatında yılın yıldızı, savunma oldu
MEHMET KAYA/ANKARA
Following the release of October 2024 export data by TIM and the Ministry of Trade, the year-end export outlook has largely become clearer. While a difficult year in exports was left behind, it was observed that only the defense and aerospace sector had a good year in industrial exports, while the outlook for the coming years is not very good in textile and other sectors to which Turkey exports heavily. Exports of the defense and aerospace sector in the January-October period increased by 18 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 5 billion 125 million dollars, and its share in exports was determined as 2.4 percent.
On the other hand, the kg value of defense and aviation exports was determined as 65 dollars. According to TIM's private trade system and its own records, the value per kg of exports in the January-October period was 1.47 TL. On an annual basis, defense and aviation exports increased by 15 percent, reaching $6 billion 326 million. On the other hand, the decline in textiles and ready-to-wear clothing, which is seen as a remarkable loss in terms of amount due to its weight in exports, continues. In the January-October period, the decline in exports in textiles and ready-to-wear garments reached 1.6 and 7.3 percent, respectively. According to the January-October period, ready-to-wear garments generated 1.2 billion dollars less revenue compared to the same period of the previous year and 1.6 billion dollars less on an annualized basis as of October.
In exports of industrial products, both as of January-October and on an annualized basis, there is a serious decline in some sectors. Among these, on an annualized basis, the decline in exports of textiles and ready-to-wear garments, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, machinery, cement and air conditioning, some of which have relatively high shares in exports, is noteworthy. On the increase side, there were high-rated improvements in a few sectors in industrial products. Again, industrial products with high annualized increases are ship and yacht services with 18.6 percent, jewelry with 18.3 percent and automotive with 6.3 percent. The increase in automotive, steel, jewelry, chemicals and defense and aerospace industry products also contributes to the increase in industrial exports in general. Although fluctuations are observed in industrial sectors over the years, the defense and aerospace industry stands out with its regular increase in exports in recent years.
If the defense and aerospace industry increases its exports this year as well, it will increase its annual record again. The sector's exports in the January-October period reached 5.1 billion dollars as of October. Annualized exports amounted to 6.3 billion dollars. In the whole of last year, the exports of this sector were 5.6 billion dollars. By 2024, its exports are expected to exceed 6 billion dollars.