İstanbul Kimyevi Maddeler ve Mamulleri İhracatçıları Birliği (İKMİB) data shows chemical sector exports reached USD 1.378 billion in August 2020. Eight-month exports for the sector totaled USD 11.5 billion.
In the January-August 2020 period, the chemical sector recorded USD 11.521 billion in chemical substances and products exports, declining 14.09 percent compared to the same period last year. Iraq, the United States and Germany were the top three destinations for chemical substance exports.
Evaluating August chemical sector export figures, İstanbul Kimyevi Maddeler ve Mamulleri İhracatçıları Birliği (İKMİB) Board Chairman Adil Pelister said: "This year, due to the pandemic, particularly from the second quarter onwards as the global and domestic economy contracted, our chemical sector was also affected by the general export decline.
Following recovery in June and July, August saw a decline both in our country's overall exports and in our sector, also impacted by the holiday period. In August, we achieved USD 1.378 billion in chemical exports.
Regarding the countries where we export the most chemical substances and products, Iraq held first place in August, while the United States, in second place with a 39.06 percent increase, stands out.
Looking at capacity utilization rates in our chemical sector, we see that it declined to an average of 67.08 percent in May, began rising from June onwards, and reached 70.85 percent in August.
Turkey's Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) came in at 54.3 in August, and although there was a decline compared to July, the recovery continues.
We are going through extraordinary times. Nevertheless, we maintain our position as the second-largest exporting sector in the eight-month period. Our Minister of Trade recently announced the "Easy Export Platform."
This platform provides exporters with detailed information from market intelligence to countries' tax rates. We believe the Easy Export Platform, which will promote digital transformation among all our exporters and which even prospective exporters can benefit from, will open the way particularly for our exporters in e-commerce."
Iraq became the top export destination in August
Iraq was the leading destination for exports in August. Other countries in the top ten following Iraq in August were the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, Israel, Italy, Russia and Romania.
Chemical exports to Iraq totaled USD 85.960 million in August 2020. In August, the main exports to Iraq included "plastics and products thereof," "essential oils, cosmetics and soaps," "washing preparations," "pharmaceutical products," "paints, varnishes, inks and preparations," "miscellaneous chemical substances," "fertilizers," "mineral fuels, mineral oils and products," "adhesives, glues, enzymes" and "inorganic chemicals."
For the eight-month period of January-August 2020, the top destinations for chemical exports were the Netherlands, Iraq, Germany, the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, Israel, Romania and Belgium in the top ten.
August saw the highest exports of "plastics and products thereof"
In August, exports of plastics and products thereof among chemical substances and products groups led chemical exports at USD 489.214 million. Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products ranked second with USD 196.121 million in exports, while inorganic chemicals exports came third at USD 123.169 million.
Other sectors in the top ten following inorganic chemicals included essential oils, cosmetics and soaps, pharmaceutical products, rubber and rubber goods, paints, varnishes, inks and preparations, miscellaneous chemical substances, washing preparations and organic chemicals.
2020 monthly basis chemical exports
| MONTH |
2019 VALUE ($) |
2020 VALUE ($) |
DIFFERENCE (%) |
| January |
1,540,769,133.16 |
1,683,339,106.89 |
9.25% |
| February |
1,645,862,599.42 |
1,495,039,447.61 |
-9.16% |
| March |
1,844,543,244.29 |
1,503,598,574.27 |
-18.48% |
| April |
1,773,905,701.26 |
1,271,581,944.21 |
-28.32% |
| May |
1,939,043,000.19 |
1,177,282,945.06 |
-39.29% |
| June |
1,297,571,923.73 |
1,426,310,107.54 |
9.92% |
| July |
1,737,960,266.10 |
1,585,516,915.06 |
-8.77% |
| August |
1,631,563,988.57 |
1,378,741,677.75 |
-15.50% |
| TOTAL |
13,411,219,857 |
11,521,410,718 |
-14.09% |
Top chemical exporting destinations in August 2020
| NO. |
Country |
AUGUST 2019 VALUE ($) |
AUGUST 2020 VALUE ($) |
CHANGE (%) |
| 1 |
IRAQ |
75,741,889.76 |
85,960,683.63 |
13.49% |
| 2 |
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA |
55,625,073.17 |
77,354,943.29 |
39.06% |
| 3 |
GERMANY |
63,245,142.84 |
68,884,508.26 |
8.92% |
| 4 |
UNITED KINGDOM |
47,530,488.14 |
54,286,597.20 |
14.21% |
| 5 |
SPAIN |
51,366,413.32 |
43,942,477.42 |
-14.45% |
| 6 |
NETHERLANDS |
161,845,474.03 |
43,550,589.46 |
-73.09% |
| 7 |
ISRAEL |
36,853,471.40 |
39,001,495.78 |
5.83% |
| 8 |
ITALY |
116,936,666.61 |
38,814,111.10 |
-66.81% |
| 9 |
RUSSIA |
35,582,153.01 |
37,598,389.07 |
5.67% |
| 10 |
ROMANIA |
32,745,096.71 |
36,391,309.30 |
11.14% |
Chemical sector subsectors in August 2020
| |
|
|
2019-2020 |
| |
AUGUST 2019 |
AUGUST 2020 |
% DIFFERENCE |
| PRODUCT GROUP |
VALUE ($) |
VALUE ($) |
VALUE |
| PLASTICS AND PRODUCTS THEREOF |
461,568,972 |
489,214,499 |
5.99% |
| MINERAL FUELS, MINERAL OILS AND PRODUCTS |
519,075,914 |
196,121,717 |
-62.22% |
| INORGANIC CHEMICALS |
134,763,742 |
123,169,459 |
-8.60% |
| ESSENTIAL OILS, COSMETICS AND SOAPS |
90,669,658 |
114,497,761 |
26.28% |
| PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS |
63,743,230 |
92,115,452 |
44.51% |
| RUBBER AND RUBBER GOODS |
87,476,641 |
90,691,942 |
3.68% |
| PAINTS, VARNISHES, INKS AND PREPARATIONS |
68,645,732 |
71,540,642 |
4.22% |
| MISCELLANEOUS CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES |
58,610,574 |
68,571,453 |
17.00% |
| WASHING PREPARATIONS |
37,878,905 |
48,386,717 |
27.74% |
| ORGANIC CHEMICALS |
64,453,762 |
39,440,776 |
-38.81% |
| FERTILIZERS |
25,178,095 |
25,245,254 |
0.27% |
| ADHESIVES, GLUES, ENZYMES |
17,782,455 |
17,560,437 |
-1.25% |
| GUNPOWDER, EXPLOSIVES AND DERIVATIVES |
703,356 |
1,286,171 |
82.86% |
| PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CINEMATOGRAPHIC PRODUCTS |
981,122 |
835,124 |
-14.88% |
| GLYCERIN, VEGETABLE PRODUCTS, DEGRAS, FATTY SUBSTANCES |
23,749 |
60,913 |
156.49% |
| PROCESSED ASBESTOS AND MIXTURES, PRODUCTS |
8,080 |
3,362 |
-58.39% |
| TOTAL |
1,631,563,989 |
1,378,741,678 |
-15.50% |
