Turkish textile and raw materials sector suffered a loss in April in 2023, which it entered in a fluctuating way in exports. According to the April export performance report published by ITHIB, the exports of the sector decreased by 26.1% to 921 million dollars. In this month, the sector’s share in Türkiye’s overall exports was recorded as 4.8%. In April, Türkiye’s total exports decreased by 17.2% to 19.3 million dollars. Starting 2023 with a 5.4% loss in January, the textile sector continued to experience an uninterrupted decline in April, declining by 21.2% in February and 8.6% in March. The sector lost 26.1% compared to the same month of last year and 16.1% compared to March 2023. In the January-April period of 2023, the sector generated exports worth 80.8 million dollars with an annual decrease of 3%.
In the first four months of 2023, the largest export market of the Turkish textile industry was the EU market consisting of 27 countries. Exports to this market decreased by 26.4% compared to the same period of 2022 and totalled 1.6 billion dollars. The second largest export destination of the sector was African countries. Exports to this region also decreased by 22.1% to 412 million dollars.
Textile export volume decreased by 12.1%
In addition to the depreciation in textile exports on both monthly and periodical basis, a decline was also observed on quantity basis. In the first four months of the year, exports of the sector decreased by 12.1% on quantity basis and were recorded as 832 thousand tonnes. In the January-April period, textile exports to EU countries decreased by 23% on quantity basis and reached 322 thousand tonnes. The amount of exports to African countries was calculated as 91 thousand tonnes.
Italy ranks first once again in Turkish textile exports
In the January-April period of 2023, the leading market in Turkish textile and raw materials exports was Italy. In this period, textile exports to Italy decreased by 34.1% in value to 316 million dollars. Exports to Germany, which ranked second, decreased by 23.5% to 275 million dollars. Exports to the USA, which ranked third, decreased by 32.9% to 212 million dollars. In this period, Spain and the United Kingdom took their place in the ranking as the fourth and fifth largest markets, respectively.
The only product group with an increase in exports was garment sub-industry products
In the first four months of the year, the most important export product of the Turkish textile and raw materials sector was woven fabric with a share of 21.3%. 9.8% decline in woven fabric exports created a value of 828 million dollars. 7.2% loss of value was experienced in the exports of technical textiles, which ranked second with a share of 17.4%, and 748 million dollars of income was obtained. In the January – April period of 2023, yarn exports decreased by 26.6% to 706 million dollars. In knitted fabrics, which ranked fourth, the decline was 1.2%, relatively lower than the other groups. The sector generated 660 million dollars of income from knitted fabrics.
Home textile exports decreased by 17.9% to 629 million dollars and fibre exports decreased by 7.8% to 365.5 million dollars. The only product group with an increase in exports was garment sub-industry products. Exports of these products, which constitute 10.6% of total textile exports, increased by 5.3% to 208 million dollars.
Capacity utilisation rate and production index in decline
According to the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye, the capacity utilisation rate of the textile industry decreased by 161.1% in April compared to the same month of the previous year. In addition, according to the data of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT), the textile industry production index in February 2023 decreased by 27% compared to the previous year’s data.
According to TURKSTAT data, textile and raw materials sector provided 493 thousand jobs in February 2023, which means a 5.6% decrease compared to the same month of last year. In February, total employment in textile and ready-to-wear sectors decreased by 1% compared to last year and totalled 1 million 203 thousand.
Ready-to-wear industry increased by 3.8% in April on an annual basis and by 17.2% compared to the previous month. The sector exported 6.7 billion dollars in the January-April period of 2023. The most important export markets of the sector were Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France. In exports, knitted products had a share of 49%, woven products 41% and ready-made goods 10%.