Chemical Industry Exports Continue to Rise: Sector's Q1 2018 Exports Reach USD 4.186 Billion

According to İKMİB data, chemical exports in March rose 23.5% compared to February, reaching USD 1.565 billion.

Germany, which held first place in the ranking of countries with the highest chemical exports last month, ranked first again this month with USD 88.211 million in chemical exports.

Turkey's chemical industry, the country's third-largest export sector, continues its upward trajectory. Germany, Spain and the United States led chemical exports in March, with the sector recording USD 1.565 billion in March exports.

Germany Again Top Chemical Export Destination in March

Germany was the leading destination for chemical exports in March. Chemical exports to Germany rose 12.2% from USD 78.610 million in February 2018 to USD 88.211 million in March. Other countries ranking in the top ten for sectoral exports after Germany were Spain, United States, Netherlands, Egypt, Iraq, Gibraltar, Italy, Malta and Israel.

Plastics and Products Maintain Lead in Subsector Exports

In subsectors, plastics and products exports continue to drive chemical sector growth. Plastics and products recorded the highest exports in March with USD 539.676 million. Mineral fuels, oils and products ranked second with USD 293.005 million in exports, while inorganic chemicals exports placed third with USD 157.672 million. Other subsectors in the top ten following inorganic chemicals were rubber and rubber products, pharmaceutical products, paints, varnishes, inks and preparations, soaps and washing preparations, essential oils and cosmetics, miscellaneous chemical substances and organic chemicals. Looking at the sector's three-month export performance, chemical industry exports in the January-March period reached USD 4.186 billion, up 1.85%. The countries with the highest exports during this period were Germany, Spain, Iraq, Netherlands, Egypt, Italy, United States, Iran, Greece and United Kingdom. Murat Akyüz, Chair of the Board of İKMİB, evaluating the chemical sector's March performance, stated: "Our chemical sector exports continue to grow. In March 2018 we achieved USD 1.565 billion in chemical exports, a 23.5% increase compared to February. Our exports in the three-month period of 2018 reached USD 4.186 billion. It is noteworthy that besides major EU export destinations such as Germany and Spain, the United States also ranked third this month."

2018 March Chemical Sector Exports

		2017–2018
	MARCH 2016	% CHANGE	MARCH 2017	MARCH 2018
PRODUCT GROUP	VALUE (USD)	VALUE	VALUE (USD)	VALUE (USD)
PLASTICS AND PRODUCTS	442,625,553	13.98	473,481,271	539,676,510
MINERAL FUELS, MINERAL OILS AND PRODUCTS	203,111,974	-31.50	427,738,347	293,005,036
INORGANIC CHEMICALS	81,674,161	44.35	109,229,241	157,672,569
RUBBER AND RUBBER PRODUCTS	101,339,408	19.68	112,267,559	134,366,292
PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS	71,038,606	26.06	74,467,296	93,870,771
PAINTS, VARNISHES, INKS AND PREPARATIONS	54,379,606	27.26	56,626,027	72,061,820
SOAPS AND WASHING PREPARATIONS	69,642,875	2.04	69,548,992	70,964,368
ESSENTIAL OILS AND COSMETICS	56,666,788	5.03	65,419,657	68,710,021
MISCELLANEOUS CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES	46,406,208	6.80	50,514,280	53,951,128
ORGANIC CHEMICALS	42,924,457	-21.35	63,207,547	49,715,259
ADHESIVES, GLUES AND ENZYMES	16,739,516	21.50	16,009,566	19,451,860
FERTILIZERS	6,653,550	14.08	9,068,648	10,345,192
PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CINEMATOGRAPHIC PRODUCTS	1,111,172	-13.56	1,322,906	1,143,530
GUNPOWDER, EXPLOSIVES AND DERIVATIVES	507,053	8.34	767,594	831,639
PROCESSED ASBESTOS AND MIXTURES, PRODUCTS	13,621	470.26	8,448	48,175
GLYCERINE, VEGETABLE PRODUCTS, DEGRA, FATTY SUBSTANCES	27,270	-52.33	79,133	37,726
TOTAL	1,194,861,819	2.36%	1,529,756,509	1,565,851,897

2018 March Top Chemical Export Destinations

NO.	Country	MARCH 2017 VALUE (USD)	MARCH 2018 VALUE (USD)	CHANGE (%)
1	GERMANY	75,809,433.54	88,211,593.23	16.36%
2	SPAIN	58,041,671.46	78,638,358.26	35.49%
3	UNITED STATES	84,480,349.25	66,464,491.21	-21.33%
4	NETHERLANDS	30,613,060.12	64,904,287.99	112.02%
5	EGYPT	79,231,572.10	64,777,542.12	-18.24%
6	IRAQ	70,238,804.57	63,689,417.37	-9.32%
7	GIBRALTAR	21,680,052.45	62,467,075.00	188.13%
8	ITALY	64,612,586.52	57,351,252.93	-11.24%
9	MALTA	14,110,989.23	42,668,122.59	202.38%
10	ISRAEL	35,680,655.11	40,094,641.56	12.37%

2018 Monthly Chemical Exports

MONTH	2017 VALUE (USD)	2018 VALUE (USD)	CHANGE (%)
January	1,233,378,571.35	1,353,465,059.80	9.74%
February	1,347,780,955.64	1,267,593,588.76	-5.95%
March	1,529,756,509.46	1,565,851,896.65	2.36%