The results of the Turkish Export Contribution Index 2023, prepared twice a year by the Turkish Ceramics Federation, have been announced. Accordingly, construction ceramics was the sector with the highest contribution to exports in 2023, with a rate of 11.0, despite the decrease in the first half of the year.
The 2023 results of the "Turkish Export Contribution Index", prepared by the Turkish Ceramics Federation to measure the contribution of sectors to Turkiye's foreign trade, to rank the sectors according to their contributions and to create an information set to support them, have been announced. Accordingly, the construction ceramics sector was the sector with the highest contribution to exports in 2023 with a ratio of 11.0. Although the sector's contribution rate decreased in the first half, it increased in the second half. It was observed that this increase was due to the decline in imports. The net export contribution of the sector was 849 million dollars in 2023. On the other hand, in 2023, the number of sectors with a positive export contribution rate increased to 11 among 20 industrial branches. The sectors with the highest contribution rate, following construction ceramics, were furniture with 6.61 and clothing items with 5.26.
Earthquake, election, overvalued TL, tight monetary policies…
The stagnation in the markets as a result of the earthquake disaster, the election process, the appreciation of the Turkish lira, tightening policies in the country and monetary tightening on a global scale limited Turkiye's exports. During this period, a 30.5 percent decrease was observed in construction ceramics exports in 2023. It was stated that the biggest factor in this was the slowdown in export markets and especially in Europe in 2023. The earthquake had a more negative impact on the construction material industry. While construction ceramics exports amounted to 946 million dollars in 2023, the absolute contribution to exports was 849 million dollars. In 2023, exports of ceramic coating materials decreased by 38.0 percent in value to 634 million dollars. A serious decrease was observed, especially in the export of coating materials. Exports of ceramic sanitary ware decreased by 8.0 percent in 2023, reaching 312 million dollars. On the other hand, exports of ceramic coating materials decreased by 43.5 percent on quantity basis to 1,337,284 tons. Exports of ceramic sanitary ware decreased by 17.7 percent in terms of quantity, reaching 152,464 tons. Meanwhile, the export unit price of ceramic sanitary ware increased to an average of 2.05 dollars/kg in 2023, and the export unit price of ceramic coating materials increased to 47 cents/kg.
“The sector continues to maintain its leadership”
Underlining that the Turkish ceramics industry is an important player in the world, Ilter Yurtbay, President of the Turkish Ceramics Federation, said: “Despite all the negativities experienced both in our country and all over the world, the ceramic industry, which produces with domestic resources and stands out in exports, continues to provide added value to our economy and maintain its leadership in exports. Our goal is to have Turkish ceramics take a permanent place in the reshaping world market and supply chain. Even though there was a major earthquake disaster, fluctuations in the economy and a long election process at the beginning of 2023, the contribution of construction ceramics to exports cannot be ignored. One of the most important reasons why we can export so well today is that we have extremely modern production facilities and our motivation to continue producing under all conditions. We will continue to grow stronger in the countries we export to, especially the American market, and increase net foreign exchange inflow with our high domestic value added rate."
