The FINANCIAL — According to Today's Zaman, the Turkish automotive sector is taking an especially hard beating in the present global financial turbulence, with exports in the sector, long considered the locomotive of Turkish exports, shrinking by almost 70 percent in the first two weeks of January over the same period last year.
From Jan. 1 to Jan. 15 the country exported units totaling $250.9 million, down from $818.9 million last year.
Plummeting demand in international markets has led to closings in all of the sector’s main producers. Ford Otosan, OYAK Renault and Tofaş announced 12-day cuts in production for the month of January in response to falling demand.
One auto sector insider who spoke to Today’s Zaman on the condition of anonymity revealed that another two-week production shutdown had also been planned for some major producers for the month of February.
According to statistics from the Uludağ Exporters’ Union, the automotive sector exported to 111 countries and 10 free trade zones. Of these countries, an increase in exports could be only observed in 27 countries and four free zones. The EU, which receives a large proportion of the exports, also experienced a large drop. Export rates were in the minus territory for all countries except Greece and Latvia when compared with the same period last year.
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