The export figures for the first half of 2019 were revealed. In the first 6 months of Turkey’s overall exports rose to $88.2 billion from $ 86.3 billion, a 2.2% increase year-on-year. In the same period, exports of the industrial exports group increased by 1.8% to around $68 billion. Textile exports lag behind hopes in H1 2019. Despite this overall optimistic outlook in exports, textile exports sustained its downtrend.
In the first six months of 2019, the textile and raw materials sector faced a 5.8% drop in exports to stand at $3.3 billion. Despite this decline in value, exports continued to increase in quantity. In the same period, exports of textile industry increased by 7.2% in terms of quantity.
28 EU countries came out as the biggest market in textile exports. In January-June period of 2019, approximately $2.2 billion dollars worth of exports were realized. However, compared to the same period of the previous year, export losses in this market stood at 9.2%. The highest increase was recorded in the former Eastern Bloc Countries with a 6.4% gain. In the first half of the year, Italy was Turkey’s largest importer. Textile exports to Italy decreased by 7.5% compared to the same period of the previous year to $ 368.8 million. The second largest market in exports was Germany. Exports to Germany were down by 3.8% to $357 million.
Textile exports lag behind hopes in H1 2019: exports of woven fabrics decreased by 6.1%
In the January-June, the Turkish textile industry exported woven fabrics the most with a share of 24%. Exports of this product amounted to $1 billion, down 6.1% year-on-year. The exports of cotton woven fabrics, which have a share of 37.7% in the group, decreased by 11.2% to around $393.6 million.
Yarn was the second most important product group in this period with a share of 18.6%. Yarn exports amounted to $810.9 million. Yarns from synthetic-man-made filament fibers, the most important product group with a share of 42.3% in total yarn exports, saw a value of $342.7 million in exports.
The third important product group in textile exports was knitted fabrics with a share of 15.2%. Knitted fabric exports fell 1.9% to $660.9 million. Exports of knitted fabrics containing elastometric and rubber yarn, which have a share of 53.1% in this product group, decreased by 8.3% to $350.8 million.
In the first half of the year, fibre exports rose by 6.8% to $292.5 million. Synthetic-man-made fibers accounted for 62% of the total fibre exports. Exports of these fibers increased by 10.8% to around $181.5 million.
Exports of home textile fabrics and home textiles also declined
Looking at the exports of home textile fabrics, they decreased by 17% to $139 million in the January-June period this year. The most important product group in this category, exports of drapery fabrics decreased by 14.3% to $128.2 million. In the same period, home textile exports decreased by 3.4% at $758.8 million. Towels and cleaning cloths, which have a share of 34.8% in home textiles, decreased by 5% to $263.8 million.
In H1 2019, exports of technical textiles rose by 0.6% to $765.6 million. The increase was recorded as 9.7% in June alone. Nonwoven exports, which account for 34% of total technical textiles exports, rose by 4.2% to $260 million.
Decrease in apparel exports was limited to only 1%
Coming to the Ready-to-Wear and Ready-to-Wear Garments sector, exports decreased by 1% to $6.7 billion in January-June 2019. The sector’s share in Turkey’s total exports in this period was calculated as 9.9%. In the first half of the year, the top three countries with the highest exports were Germany, Spain and the UK. Exports to Germany fell 9.3% to $1.5 billion, exports to Spain declined 2.7% to $1.1 billion and exports to the UK declined 1.4% to $ 946.4 million.
The most exported product groups of the sector were knitted garments, woven garments and accessories as well as other ready-made garments and home textiles. Exports of knitted garments decreased by 2% ($4.4 billion), while exports of woven garments increased by 2% ($3.3 billion). Exports of other ready-made goods and home textiles dropped by 6.1% ($959 million).