Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at November 3rd, 2011

Turkey’s trade deficit widened to a record level in September compared with last year, official figures published yesterday show.

Skyrocketing current trade deficit and a low domestic savings ratio in the growing economy raise concerns about the country’s dependency on import products and booming demand, according to professionals.

The trade deficit was $10.4 billion in September, the biggest gap recorded, compared with $6.7 billion on September last year and $8.2 billion the previous month, according to figures published by Turkey’s Statistical Institute (TÜİK). Measures taken by Turkey’s Central Bank have thus failed to reduce the trade gap in September, an economist told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Turkey might have already experienced the “peak” in its trade deficit by last month, and it might take a few months for the Central Bank’s steps to show their effect on the economy, Erol Katıcıoğlu, a professor at Istanbul Bilgi University, told the Daily News yesterday. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 19th, 2011

A survey conducted among the 500 leading export and import firms in Turkey has shown that the export sector’s expectations for the future have improved by a large margin as a strong indicator of optimism.

According to the Foreign Trade Expectations Survey conducted by the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat (DTM) the Expectation Index both for exports and imports are up for the second quarter of this year. The Export Expectation index has gone up by 20.2 points, while the import expectation index climbed by 15.4 points quarter-on-quarter. Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Çağlayan shared the findings of the survey with the media on Monday in Ankara.

According to Çağlayan, the study showed that the first quarter’s export expectation index of 122.7 increased to 142.9 for the second quarter this year. Any value above, below or equal to 100 represents an upward expectation, lower expectation and neutral expectation, respectively. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 15th, 2011

Turkey is set to increase organic textile exports, said an industry expert on Thursday at the country’s first-ever organic textile trade fair in the western province of İzmir.

“Our textile exports amounted to $15 billion in 2010 and organic textile exports reached $60 million. Turkey exports organic textile products to more than 30 countries. The world organic textile market reached $6.8 billion in 2010. We want to increase our share in this market in the coming years,” said Aegean Clothing Manufacturers’ Association, or EGSD, chairman Emre Kızılgüneşler at the event’s opening remarks. Turkey was the world’s fourth largest exporter of textiles, he said. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 17th, 2009

Industry and Trade Minister Nihat Ergün on Wednesday said Chinese auto maker Chery expected to establish a factory in Turkey with an initial $500 million investment.
“The firm has expressed a desire to access world markets via Turkey. They have applied to build a production base in Turkey,” Ergün told a meeting at the ongoing Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany. Two executives from Chery had visited the northwestern province of Sakarya in January to acquire land to build an automotive factory. The auto producer had commenced feasibility studies with the Turkish Mermerler Group, Chery’s current distributor in Turkey. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 17th, 2009

Turkish Industry and Trade Minister Nihat Ergün has said Tuesday that French car maker Renault would start producing its Fluence brand in Turkey in 2010.
Speaking to reporters at the 63rd Frankfurt Auto Show, which kicked off on Tuesday, Ergün said in 2011 Renault would begin production of the electric version of this car, noting that this would be a major landmark for the Turkish auto sector.

Commenting on the electric version of the Fluence, Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Çağlayan, who also attended the auto show, said this would make Turkey a base for electric car production and investment. The two ministers evaluated the latest developments in the Turkish auto sector for members of the press. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 15th, 2009

Turkey’s domestic defense industry is expected to export weapons, equipment and services worth $1 billion in 2011, up more than $400 million from last year’s figure, the country’s procurement agency said in this year’s report on its strategic objectives.

The Turkish defense industry’s exports totaled $576 million last year. The balance comes from commercial sales by private and public defense companies.

The Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, or SSM, said in its “Strategic Document for Defense Industry, 2009-2016″ that it is implementing a plan to incentivize exports and aims to reach its $1 billion goal in 2011. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 14th, 2009

Pomegranate producers in Tarsus, a town in the Mediterranean city of Mersin, aim to make higher profits as Iran, the world’s top pomegranate supplier, is likely to see low yields this year.

Turkey ranks second in pomegranate production, and plantations cover nearly 45,000 dunams in Tarsus, which is on the sixth spot in terms of pomegranate cultivation, said Ali Ergezer, chairman of the Tarsus Chamber of Agriculture.

Due to high demand in domestic and foreign market, the pomegranate on a land of 500 dunams was sold while still on branch prior to harvest, said Ergezer. “But the producers that hear about the developments in Iran reject the merchants who offer prices between 80 kuruş and 1 Turkish Lira for a kilogram. The producers aim to keep the product and sell at or over 1.5 liras.”

The area of pomegranate plantations, which totaled 500 dunams 10 years ago, has reached 100,000 dunams with incentives, Ergezer said. “This year, 40 percent of the total planted area will be harvested in the middle of November. Due to climate conditions, the quality and yield will surpass expectations.” (more…)

Posted by meb at September 14th, 2009

US President Barack Obama’s administration has notified Congress of a possible $7.8 billion sale of Patriot PAC-3 antimissile batteries and related equipment to Turkey, the only NATO ally bordering Iran.

The sale would include 13 Patriot “fire units,” 72 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles and a range of associated hardware for ground-based air defense, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a notice made public on Friday, reported the Reuters news agency.

It estimated the cost at $7.8 billion, which would be one of the biggest US government-to-government arms sales in years and would mark the return of Turkey as a major US arms buyer.

Turkey would use the PAC-3 guided missiles to boost its missile defense capability, strengthen its homeland defense and deter regional threats, the defense agency said. (more…)