Automotive Exports March 2021

Turkey’s exports
hit all-time
monthly high
for 3rd straight
month
Turkish exports have hit an all-time
monthly high for the third consecutive
month in February, the country’s trade
minister announced.
Sales surged 9.6% year-on-year to over
$16 billion (TL 117.23 billion) in the month,
Ruhsar Pekcan told a meeting in the capital
Ankara.
Turkey made a flying start to 2021 thanks
to its strong performance for the second
month in a row, Pekcan said.
Imports rose 9.8% to $19.4 billion, bringing
the trade deficit to $3.4 billion, the data
showed.The export-to-import coverage
ratio was 82.7% this February, the minister
noted.
“In the first two months of this year the
ratio rose to 82.9% from 79.5 a year ago,”
she added. The data follows the highest
monthly figures in January and December
as sales surpassed $15 billion and $17.84
billion, respectively.
Also addressing the meeting, Turkish
Exporters’ Assembly (TIM) Chairperson
Ismail Gülle said now that the country has
renewed records in the first two months
of the year, they believe a year-end target
of $184 billion could be achieved and even
exceeded.
Pekcan recalled that Turkey joined China to
become the only two Group of 20 countries
that managed to expand last year despite
the coronavirus pandemic.
The economy grew a less-than-expected
but still strong 5.9% in the fourth quarter
and 1.8% in 2020 as a whole, the official
data showed.
The outbreak led to a 6.26% drop in 2020
exports as Turkey closed the year with
$169.5 billion in foreign sales, exceeding
the target of $165.9 billion in the mediumterm
program.
Imports were up 4.3% to reach $219.4
billion. The trade deficit widened by
69.12% to $49.9 billion last year.
Rising sales to EU
The exports rebounded rapidly in the third
and fourth quarters last year, Pekcan said,
recalling that sales increased by 6.7% in the
October-December period to $51.3 billion,
exceeding the $50 billion threshold for the
first time.
The country took a 3.7% share in the
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