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The second largest import item in May was gold, which was given a value of $1.44bn. This item is volatile. What kind of trades are happening in relation to it is unknown.
Iron-steel imports were down to $885mn from $945mn in April while there was still $851mn worth of consumer electronics imports, albeit the figure was lower than the $945mn in the previous month.
Turkey’s manufacturing export climate index jumped to 34.1 in May from the all-time-low of 19.1 seen in April, according to the survey compiler, the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO).
The latest figure on sentiment, however, is below the 50-mark threshold that separates optimism from pessimism. It also marks the second lowest figure on record since January 2002 when the export climate index was started.
The index is calculated by weighting national purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data and output trends.
The survey behind the index showed that demand conditions on Turkish manufacturers’ export markets continued to deteriorate in May, with only China posting a rise in output. However, China accounts for just 1% of the Turkish manufacturing sector’s exports.
Big trade partners in Europe remained firmly in contraction mode during May, albeit they saw their rates of decline ease from the unprecedented falls seen in April when the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis took a firm hold, the ISO said in a statement.
“In the near-term, however, conditions are set to be challenging for exporters amid ongoing restrictions and subdued demand,” Andrew Harker, economics director at IHS Markit, said.
Turkey is pushing to bring more high value-added exports into the trade picture with China​, a​ ccording​ to Turkey’s Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan.
The bilateral trade volume between the two countries grew to $21.1bn in 2019. That compares to just $1.1bn in 2001. However, the vast majority of trade flows represent Chinese goods arriving in Turkey.
In 2019, Turkey shipped $2.6bn worth of goods to China, marking a 11.2% y/y decline, while imports from China fell by 11% y/y to stand at $18.5bn. Turkey’s exports to China made up 1.5% of all its exports, while Chinese imports to Turkey represented 9.1% of all imports the country took in. Turkey mostly buys
32​ TURKEY Country Report​ July 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com