Page 97 - TURKRptJun19

9.1.5 Retail sector news
Turkey one of world’s top 5 countries for fast e-commerce growth. Turkey is expected to have an e-commerce compound annual growth rate of 12% between 2018 and 2022, putting the country in the world top 5 along with India, Indonesia, South Africa and Mexico, according to Leendert Van Delft, DHL Express Global & Europe vice president of sales programmes. Van Delft noted that Turkey's e-commerce annual revenue has reached TRY50bn (€7.4bn) and is expected to grow by 35% in 2019. “2018 was a successful year for Turkey in terms of e-commerce revenue generations, and the country is set to achieve new heights in the near future,” he added. On a related note, data from Avantajix.com showed that online shopping in Turkey has increased by 30% during Ramadan. The Islamic holy month of Ramadan started on May 5, with Muslims beginning a fasting period that lasts for 29 days. According to the data, women mostly do their online shopping during their lunch break and during working hours and spend TRY150mn on average. Women typically buy tea, coffee, gourmet products, cleaning products, cosmetics products, diapers, and baby formula. Men, on the contrary, go online for shopping late at night, between 11:00 PM and 4:00 AM and spend TRY210 on average. They mostly buy books, clothes, and consumer electronics. Some 85% of men doing online shopping during those hours are aged between 25 and 35 or above 55.
9.1.6 Agriculture sector news
Turkey’s grain production forecast to rise 1.1% in 2019 to 34.8mn tonnes.
Wheat production in the country was expected to this year decrease 2.5% to 19.5mn tonnes, while it was anticipated that Turkish barley production in 2019 would move up 7.1% to 7.5mn tonnes. Ukraine and Russia are currently battling it out for the title of the ‘World’s biggest grain exporter’. The Ukrainians produced 70mn tonnes last year and are on course to match that bumper harvest this year. Ukraine’s export forecast is 50.4mn tonnes. The Russian agriculture ministry’s official forecast is for a grain harvest of 118mn tonnes and exports of between 42mn tonnes and 46mn tonnes.
9.1.7 TMT sector news
The turnover of Turkey's electronic communications market reached TRY59bn ($12.2bn) in 2018, according to the Turkish Competitive Telco Operators Association (Telcoder). "The turnover of the sector was TRY14bn in 2003. Our sector is growing,” said Yusuf Ata Ariak, head of Telcoder. He, however, noted that high taxes in the industry make up the biggest obstacle to growth. According to Ariak, Turk Telekom, Turkcell and Vodafone dominate the market, having captured a market share of 91%. The latest official data show that the number of mobile subscribers in Turkey increased to 80.12mn last year from 77.8mn in 2017. The mobile subscriber penetration rate climbed to 99% as of end-2018. Monthly talk time averaged 444 minutes per subscriber in Turkey, the higher than any time averaged in an EU member state. Mobile voice traffic showed a 4.2% gain to reach 267.6bn minutes, while fixed line voice traffic declined by a sharp 11.8% to 6.7bn minutes. Turkcell, the largest mobile operator in Turkey, had a total of 33.76mn subscribers as of end- 2018, slightly lower than the 34.1mn users recorded a year ago. Vodafone also saw a slight decline in the number of subscribers. Some 24.84mn people used the mobile carrier last year versus 24.22mn subscribers in 2017. TT Mobil, Turk Telekom’s mobile unit, managed to increase its number of subscribers to 21.52mn at the end of 2018 from 19.59mn a year ago.
Iran to use Turkish internet connections to beat US sanctions. Iran is set to use Turkish internet connections following an agreement between ministers, Mehr News Agency reported on April 30. Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Mehmet Cahit Turhan met with Iran’s Information and Communication Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi following calls from Iran for a boosting of its connectivity in the region and the
97 TURKEY Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com