The chemistry sector, which completed 2019 with a record in exports, continues to see rising export performance.According to İKMİB data, chemistry sector exports in January 2020 reached $1.7 billion, up 10.6 percent year-on-year compared to January 2019. Standing out as the sector that exports to the most countries among all sectors, the chemistry sector ranked first in January with exports to 199 countries and territories.
The chemistry sector, which attracted attention with its successful performance throughout 2019, set a historic record last year with $20.6 billion in exports. The chemistry sector, Turkey's second-largest exporting sector in 2019, also became the second-largest exporting sector on a monthly basis in January 2020.
Evaluating the chemistry sector's January export figures, İKMİB Chairman Adil Pelister said: "Our chemistry sector achieved great success by breaking a historic export record in 2019. Last year we finished as the second-largest exporting sector after the automotive sector with $20.6 billion in exports. The strategic importance of our sector continues to increase every day.
As the chemistry sector, we are aware of the contribution we make to Turkey's economy and are working with all our might. This year as well, İKMİB will continue to stand beside our exporters with our new projects and activities to reach our targets.
In this context, we will implement our Chemistry Technology Center, International Chemistry Olympiad and Chemistry Summit projects. Additionally, through 17 national participation organizations, 1 sectoral trade delegation, 7 buying delegations, workshops, an R&D Project Marketplace event, an awards ceremony, Turkey Promotion Group (TTG) project activities, trade fair visits, 6 URGE delegation organizations and various training, cooperation and projects, we will continue supporting our exporters.
The $1.7 billion in exports we achieved in January this year is also an indicator of our efforts to reach our targets. Our chemistry exports grew 10.6 percent compared to January of last year.
Meanwhile, our chemistry exports to the Netherlands increased 227.2 percent, while our exports to Italy grew 43.5 percent. Our sector became the second-largest exporting sector on a monthly basis in January 2020.
We will continue working in unity with all our sector players to exceed our 2020 chemistry sector export target of $22.5 billion. We have four years ahead with no elections. To make these years as productive as possible for the chemistry sector, we are focusing on production and exports.
We continue to accelerate our efforts to ensure the added value provided by our chemistry sector to our country continues to increase, to correctly convey the strategic importance of chemistry and to raise the share Turkish chemistry sector takes from world trade," he said.
Italy was the leading export destination in January
Italy was the country receiving the most exports in January. Other countries in the top ten following Italy in January were the Netherlands, Germany, Iraq, Belgium, Greece, Egypt, Lebanon, the United States and Spain.
Chemistry exports to Italy reached $136.054 million in January 2020. In January, the main exports to Italy were "mineral fuels, mineral oils and products", "plastics and plastic articles", "organic chemicals", "inorganic chemicals", "rubber and rubber articles", "fertilizers" and "paints, varnishes, inks and preparations".
Among chemistry subsectors, "mineral fuels, mineral oils and products" recorded the highest exports
In January, exports of mineral fuels, mineral oils and products from subsectors ranked first in chemistry exports at $555.343 million. Plastics and plastic articles ranked second with $484.815 million in exports, while inorganic chemicals ranked third with $132.242 million in exports.
Following inorganic chemicals, other sectors in the top ten were: 'rubber and rubber articles', 'essential oils, cosmetics and soap', 'pharmaceutical products', 'paints, varnishes, inks and preparations', 'organic chemicals', 'miscellaneous chemical substances' and 'cleaning preparations'.
2020 monthly chemistry exports
| MONTH |
2019 VALUE ($) |
2020 VALUE ($) |
CHANGE (%) |
| January |
1,541,046,507.44 |
1,703,346,820.81 |
10.53% |
Top chemistry export destinations in January 2020
| NO. |
COUNTRY |
JANUARY 2019 VALUE ($) |
JANUARY 2020 VALUE ($) |
CHANGE (%) |
| 1 |
ITALY |
94,861,727.64 |
136,054,594.93 |
43.42% |
| 2 |
NETHERLANDS |
34,063,899.85 |
111,457,669.83 |
227.20% |
| 3 |
GERMANY |
78,610,212.55 |
80,449,372.45 |
2.34% |
| 4 |
IRAQ |
60,348,129.13 |
73,536,004.24 |
21.85% |
| 5 |
BELGIUM |
16,335,219.91 |
71,078,905.59 |
335.13% |
| 6 |
GREECE |
71,760,862.53 |
66,401,666.65 |
-7.47% |
| 7 |
EGYPT |
80,198,516.51 |
56,013,425.87 |
-30.16% |
| 8 |
LEBANON |
32,506,928.91 |
47,363,510.32 |
45.70% |
| 9 |
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA |
54,089,418.79 |
46,589,672.60 |
-13.87% |
| 10 |
SPAIN |
120,601,354.54 |
42,512,932.29 |
-64.75% |
Chemistry sector subsectors in January 2020 exports
|
|
|
2019-2020 |
|
JANUARY 2019 |
JANUARY 2020 |
% CHANGE |
| PRODUCT GROUP |
VALUE ($) |
VALUE ($) |
VALUE |
| MINERAL FUELS, MINERAL OILS AND PRODUCTS |
435,995,983 |
555,343,282 |
27.37% |
| PLASTICS AND PLASTIC ARTICLES |
471,928,955 |
484,815,832 |
2.73% |
| INORGANIC CHEMICALS |
128,662,352 |
132,242,402 |
2.78% |
| RUBBER AND RUBBER ARTICLES |
111,618,183 |
104,325,676 |
-6.53% |
| ESSENTIAL OILS, COSMETICS AND SOAP |
81,338,182 |
86,352,051 |
6.16% |
| PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS |
69,175,025 |
78,598,938 |
13.62% |
| PAINTS, VARNISHES, INKS AND PREPARATIONS |
57,320,072 |
63,673,120 |
11.08% |
| ORGANIC CHEMICALS |
50,687,392 |
61,411,720 |
21.16% |
| MISCELLANEOUS CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES |
43,283,109 |
54,512,544 |
25.94% |
| CLEANING PREPARATIONS |
32,095,678 |
38,584,034 |
20.22% |
| FERTILIZERS |
42,880,394 |
22,887,570 |
-46.62% |
| ADHESIVES, GLUES, ENZYMES |
14,635,718 |
18,621,497 |
27.23% |
| POWDER, EXPLOSIVE SUBSTANCES AND DERIVATIVES |
678,506 |
976,260 |
43.88% |
| PRODUCTS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CINEMATOGRAPHIC USE |
686,303 |
918,924 |
33.89% |
| GLYCERIN, VEGETABLE PRODUCTS, DEGRADE, FATTY SUBSTANCES |
49,135 |
73,987 |
50.58% |
| PROCESSED ASBESTOS AND MIXTURES, ARTICLES |
11,521 |
8,982 |
-22.04% |
| TOTAL |
1,541,046,507 |
1,703,346,821 |
10.53% |
