Textile exports value decreases while the amount increases. Turkish textile manufacturers were able to earn less compared to the same period of the previous year in the first quarter of the year. In the January-March period of 2019, textile exports declined by 7% on value basis and increased by 3.9% on quantity basis. The export unit value of the ready-to-wear industry declined by 10.1% to 14.4 dollars per kg.
According to Exporters’ Associations figures, Turkish textile and raw materials industry was able to reach up to 2.5 billion dollars in exports in the first quarter of 2019 with a 7% shrinkage. On the other hand, ready-to-wear and apparel industry’s exports amounted to 4.5 billion dollars with a very small growth rate of 0.1%. Textile exports, which decreased by 7% in value terms in the first quarter of the year, increased by 3.9% to 583 thousand tons in terms of quantity. The export unit prices of the ready-to-wear industry declined by 10.1% to 14.4 dollars/kg. This shows a market situation in which we earn less by selling more in both industries.
Turkey’s total exports increased by 3.3% to 44.6 billion dollars over January-March 2019 period in which textile exports have declined, while apparel exports made no headway. In light of this data, the share of textiles and raw materials industry in Turkey’s total exports, can be observed as decreasing to 5.6% from 6.3% compared to the same period of last year. The share of the ready-to-wear industry in total exports decreased from 10.5% to 10.1%.
Textile exports value decreases while the amount increases: exports numbers decreased in major markets
In the first 3 months of the year, the most exported market was the EU region, which covers 28 countries with a share of over 50%, as was the case for many years. However, exports to the largest market with a serious decline of 10.9% was able to reach the value of 1.3 billion dollars. Exports to African countries, which have a share of 10% in textile exports, were realized as 252 million dollars with a decrease of 2.1%. Another serious decline was the decline of 10.4% in Middle Eastern countries. The export value in this market reached 235 million dollars. The most significant increase in the January-March period was in Asia and Oceania with 5.5%. Exports to this region amounted to 151 million dollars, while the second increase was 1% for the former Eastern Bloc countries.
In January-March 2019, the most textile and raw materials was exported to Italy. Exports to Italy, which has a share of 9.6% in our textile exports, declined by 11.9% to 216 million dollars. Germany, our second market, had a share of 8% in our textile exports; and exports to this country declined by 10.9% to 200 million dollars. Our textile exports to the US, which is in the third place decreased by 3.6%, while our exports to Bulgaria decreased by 19.6%. The only market with a net increase in the first 10 markets was the UK with an increase of 4.8%, while exports to Egypt increased by 0.1%.
The first quarter figures of the ready-to-wear and apparel industries confirm similar decreases. Exports to Germany, the largest market in the industry, decreased by 11.8% to 771 million dollars. Exports to Spain in the second row increased by 5.5% to 570 million dollars. Exports to the UK, which is in the third place, amounted to 464 million dollars, down 3.6%; while exports to the fourth placed Netherlands amounted to 464 million dollars, down by 0.05%.
Woven fabric is the most important export product of textile
The most important export product group of the textile industry consists of woven fabrics. In the first quarter of the year, 23% of total textile exports were created by this product. The woven fabric exports decreased by 10.5% to 593.6 million dollars. The second important product group of the sector is yarn with a share of 19.1%. Yarn exports amounted to 478.6 million dollars with a 3.7% decline in this period. The third product group, the share of knitted fabrics in the total number of textile exports was 15.1%. Exports of knitted fabrics decreased by 5% to 379.3 dollars. Exports of fiber, which has a share of 7% in total textile exports, increased by 13.2% to 176.4 million dollars.
In the first quarter of 2019, knitted garments was the most important export product of ready-to-wear and apparel industries. This product group achieved 2.3 million dollars in exports with a loss of 0.9%. Exports of woven apparel and accessories in the second row increased by 4.2% to 1.7 billion dollars. In the other ready-made goods group, including home textile products, exports decreased by 9.4% to 464 million dollars.
Home textile industry also experienced a decline
Turkey’s home textile fabrics exports were valued at 107 million dollars with a 14.9% decline over the same period. In this group, the drapery was in the first place with a share of 70% and achieved a 16.6% decline in exports. It was followed by upholstery with a 25.4% share and a 3% share of terrycloth. Meanwhile, the home textile industry’s finished product exports decreased by 8% to 432 million dollars. The main product group in home textile exports were towels and cleaning cloths with a share of 34.8%. This product group achieved a value of 150 million dollars with a 6.1% decline in exports. In the second row, the bed linen achieved a value of 110 million dollars with a 5.7% decline in exports.
Turkish textile industry’s technical textiles export decreased by 3.9% to 438 million dollars.
According to the Republic of Turkey Central Bank data; the capacity utilization rate of the ready-to-wear and apparel industry was 82.9%; while the capacity utilization rate of the textile industry was around 77% during the January to March of 2019 period.