Chemical Sector Exports Reach $19.7 Billion in 2022

Istanbul Chemical Substances and Products Exporters Association (İKMİB) data shows that the chemical sector achieved USD 2.95 billion in exports in July. With July marking the fifth consecutive month as the export leader, the chemical sector grew by 41.8% with USD 19.7 billion in exports during the first seven months of the year. The chemical sector, which managed to be the sector with the highest exports in the January-July period this year, achieved USD 2.95 billion in exports in July with a 53.98% increase compared to the same month last year, while in the first seven months it increased its exports by 41.8% to reach USD 19.7 billion.

Adil Pelister, Chairman of the Board of Istanbul Chemical Substances and Products Exporters Association (İKMİB), commenting on the chemical sector's July export figures, said the following:

"As the chemical sector, we achieved USD 2.95 billion in exports in July with a 53.98% increase compared to the same period last year and became the export leader. Our seven-month sectoral exports approached USD 20 billion with a 41.88% increase. We can say that the increase in demand following the pandemic, the change in supply chains, the shift in demand towards our country, as well as the production performance demonstrated by our companies in the chemical sector have positively influenced our exports, primarily alongside commodity price increases. On one hand, we are trying to move forward without reducing our export performance, while on the other hand we are trying to counter inflationary pressures. Global economic developments, war-related tensions and crises continue to directly and indirectly affect all countries and sectors. There are expectations of stagnation worldwide in the second half of the year. In fact, stagflation expectations are emerging because both stagnation and inflation will exist together. Particularly if stagflation or recession truly occurs in the European Union region, where we conduct approximately half of our exports, this could negatively impact our exports as well. There is such a risk in the final quarter of the year. However, we hope that our country will be less affected by a possible recession thanks to our country's logistical advantage and our preference due to product quality. Increasing export market diversity, managing capital and financing correctly, easy access to financing, and increasing the unit value of export kilogram through high value-added production are of great importance. Because companies do not have inflation accounting, they continue to pay taxes on exchange rate-based gains. This situation needs to be resolved accounting-wise as soon as possible."

The Netherlands was the top export destination

The Netherlands was the country with the highest exports in July. In July, other countries in the top ten following the Netherlands were Bulgaria, South Africa, the United States, Russia, Italy, Germany, Iraq, France and Romania. In July, Bulgaria had the highest increase among the top 10 countries at 483.47%. Chemical exports to the Netherlands in July amounted to USD 318,365,000. This represented a 227.94% increase compared to the same period last year. The top five product groups exported to the Netherlands in July were, in order: "mineral fuels, mineral oils and products," "plastics and plastic products," "inorganic chemicals," "organic chemicals" and "miscellaneous chemical substances." In the January-July period of 2022, the countries with the highest chemical exports in the top ten were, in order, the Netherlands, the United States, Italy, Romania, South Africa, Germany, Lebanon, Spain, Iraq and Belgium.  

Countries with the highest chemical exports

S. NO Country JULY 2021 VALUE (USD) JULY 2022 VALUE (USD) CHANGE VALUE (%) 1 NETHERLANDS 97,081,682.11 318,365,272.68 227.94% 2 BULGARIA 38,772,162.91 226,224,507.60 483.47% 3 SOUTH AFRICA 49,689,954.08 181,580,185.07 265.43% 4 UNITED STATES 76,999,675.51 136,830,795.90 77.70% 5 RUSSIA 42,698,097.03 115,280,160.36 169.99% 6 ITALY 79,651,281.31 99,203,243.27 24.55% 7 GERMANY 96,324,750.89 96,379,787.10 0.06% 8 IRAQ 77,162,985.13 81,768,723.82 5.97% 9 FRANCE 38,177,691.46 73,755,018.08 93.19% 10 ROMANIA 74,471,963.68 69,766,418.23 -6.32%