According to data from the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), Türkiye’s exports in November reached 22.7 billion USD, up 2.2 percent. The chemicals industry, one of the locomotive sectors of the Turkish economy, recorded 2.3 billion USD in exports in November, while the sector’s total exports in the January–November period approached 30 billion USD.
Evaluating the chemicals sector’s November export figures, Adil Pelister, Chairman of the Board of the Istanbul Chemicals and Chemical Products Exporters’ Association (İKMİB), said: “Our chemicals sector succeeded in maintaining its position as the second-largest exporting sector in November with an export performance of 2.3 billion USD. Throughout the year, our sector showed a steady performance despite challenges such as fluctuations in global demand and volatility in energy and raw material costs. Our eleven-month exports this year have approached 30 billion USD, marking an increase of over 4 percent compared to last year. In particular, our high-volume subsectors such as plastics and articles thereof, mineral fuels, and inorganic chemicals stand out as the locomotive of our chemicals industry. However, due to the decline in global oil prices, the contraction in the sector of mineral fuels, mineral oils and products negatively affects export figures. On the other hand, to make our export performance sustainable, it is very important that our sector completes its preparations for the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which will start on January 1, 2026. As İKMİB, we are leading our sector’s green transformation through the reports we prepare as well as trainings and seminars. We will continue to stand by our exporters at all times.”
Plastics and Articles Were the Most Exported Group in November
In November, within chemicals and chemical products, plastics and articles thereof ranked first in chemicals exports with 757,297,000 USD. In second place were exports of mineral fuels and products with 437,072,000 USD, while inorganic chemicals ranked third with 208,881,000 USD. Following “inorganic chemicals,” the other sectors in the top ten were: “essential oils, cosmetics and soap,” “pharmaceutical products,” “rubber and rubber goods,” “paints, varnishes, inks and preparations,” “miscellaneous chemical products,” “washing preparations,” and “adhesives, glues, enzymes.”
Italy Was the Top Export Destination in November
Italy was the country with the highest exports in November at 134.8 million USD. The top ten export destinations in November were Italy, the USA, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia, Romania, Iraq, the United Kingdom and Georgia. Among the top 20 countries, the largest increase was in Malta with 43.20 percent.