According to the data of “Textile and Raw Materials Sector, March 2023 Exports Performance Report” published by ITHIB, exports of the Turkish textile and raw materials sector decreased by 11.9% in the January-March period of 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to approximately 3 billion dollars. In March 2023, exports of textiles and raw materials increased by 23.1% compared to the previous month when the earthquake disaster occurred, while exports of textiles and raw materials decreased by 8.6% compared to March 2022 and were valued at approximately 1.1 billion dollars and had a share of 4.6% in Türkiye’s overall exports. In March 2023, Türkiye’s overall exports increased by 4.4% to 23.6 billion dollars, while exports of industrial products increased by 0.6% to 17.2 billion dollars.
In the first quarter of 2023, the highest exports of textile and raw materials were made to the EU (27) countries and were recorded at a value of 1.2 billion dollars with a decrease of 24.7% compared to the same period of 2022. In the same period, exports to African countries, the second largest market, decreased by 22.5% to 305.7 million dollars.
In the January-March period of 2023, exports in terms of quantity decreased by 8.4% to 634 thousand tonnes. In the same period, exports to EU countries in terms of quantity decreased by 20.1% to 246 thousand tonnes. The second country group with the highest exports in terms of quantity in the January-March period of 2023 was the Middle East countries with a share of 11% and 69 thousand tonnes of exports.
Iran recorded the highest increase in Turkish textile exports
Evaluating the prominent countries in Türkiye’s textile and raw materials exports in the January-March period of 2023, Italy maintained its first place. Exports to Italy decreased by 33.5% in this period and were valued at approximately 240.4 million dollars. In this period, the second and third countries to which the highest exports of textile and raw materials were exported were Germany with a decrease of 19.7% to approximately 210.7 million dollars and the USA with a decrease of 24.9% to 162.3 million dollars, respectively. Among the top 10 countries to which Türkiye exported the most textile and raw materials in the January-March period of 2023, the country with the highest increase in exports was Iran with an increase of 15.8%.
Woven fabric took the biggest slice in exports with a share of 21.4
Analysing the 2023 January-March period exports of Turkish textile and raw materials sector on the basis of product groups, it was announced that the most important product group was the woven fabric product group with a share of 21.4%. In this period, when the exports of woven fabrics, which decreased by 3.2% to 637.1 million dollars, were analysed on the basis of sub-product groups, the most important sub-product group was woven fabric from synthetic artificial filament yarns with a share of 40.5% and an export value of approximately 258 million dollars. In the same period, exports of technical textiles, the second most exported product group, decreased by 3.5% to 570.6 million dollars. Exports in the yarn product group, which ranked third, decreased by 24.7% in the same period and totalled 529 million dollars.
Knitted fabric exports in the January-March period of 2023 increased by 3.2% to 502.7 million dollars, while home textile exports decreased by 13% to 476.3 million dollars and fibre exports decreased by 3% to 287.5 million dollars. Analysing the exports of the garment sub-industry, exports increased by 11.5% to 158.1 million dollars in the January-March period of 2023.
In January-March 2022, when home textile exports were analysed on the basis of sub-product groups, the most important product group was towels and cleaning cloths with a share of 30.9%. Türkiye’s exports of towels and cleaning cloths decreased by 20.9% in this period and were recorded as 147.3 million dollars.
According to the capacity utilisation report announced by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, the average capacity utilisation rate of the manufacturing industry for the last 12 months was 76.6%. In March 2023, the capacity utilisation rate, which was 66.1% in the manufacture of textile products, decreased by 12.9% compared to March of the previous year. According to the data of Turkish Statistical Institute, in December 2022, compared to the same month of the previous year, manufacturing industry production index increased by 0.5%, while textile industry production index decreased by 18.3%.