The automotive sector, which leads Turkey's exports and is one of its driving forces, saw its sales abroad surge by 21.96 percent in September year-on-year, totaling around $2.3 billion.
According to a statement by the Uludağ Exporters Association (UİB), the volume of sales made through the association hit $2.7 billion, a 21.57 percent year-on-year increase.
Overall exports in the first nine months rose 14.32 percent to some $24.3 billion, while 12-month sales stood at $32.3 billion, at 13.76 percent.
Evaluating the data, UİB Coordinating President Baran Çelik said the association maintained its successful export graph in September as well.
"As Turkey's second association with the highest exports, we focus on increasing the quality and quantity of our exports in all circumstances. We are conducting various studies to increase our market diversity in this context. In addition to procurement committee events, we are reinforcing our existing relations with national participation organizations at fairs and visits abroad and we are solidifying the foundations of our exports," Çelik added.
He noted that the UİB has shown significant performance this year, adding that they aim to hit an all-time high in exports at the end of the year.
Recalling that Turkey's foreign trade deficit saw an annual fall of 59 percent to $2.4 billion in August, according to the data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), Çelik said, "As Turkey, we have adopted an efficiency and export-oriented development goal. We should continue our development by giving more weight to exports, which contribute to the closure of the current account deficit."
The UİB coordinating president stressed that the strong exports will also contribute positively to growth, indicating that with this formula the economy will enter the balancing process in a short period of time.
"An export policy supported by structural reforms will bring export-oriented growth to a healthier position in the medium term, thus the current situation in the economy will enter the balancing period," Çelik said.
The nine-month exports of the Uludağ Automotive Exporters Association (OİB) were up 13.7 percent and totaled some $21.1 billion. The association's 12-month sales hit $28.1 billion, a 13.25 percent increase.
Moreover, September sales of the Uludağ Textile Exporters Association (UTİB) reached $100.6 million, a 16.6 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Its exports in the first nine months of this year were up 10.14 percent to some $944 million, while 12-month exports rose by around 8 percent to $1.2 billion.
The Uludağ Apparel and Apparel Exporters Association (UHKİB) exported $56 million worth of goods last month, an increase of 31.31 percent compared to the same period last year. UHKİB's sales in the first nine months of this year totaled some $487.5 million, which corresponds to a rise of 17.34 percent year-on-year, while its 12-month exports surged by 15.4 percent to a total of $625.2 million.
Meanwhile, Turkey's imports decreased by 22.7 percent year-on-year to $14.8 billion in August, while exports fell 6.5 percent to $12.4 billion, according to the national statistical body.
In August this year, exports coverage imports was 83.6 percent while it was 69.1 percent in August 2017.
Exports to European Union countries decreased by 6.4 percent from $6.4 billion to $5.6 billion. The proportion of the EU countries was 45.4 percent in August, while it was 45.3 percent last year in the same period.
In August, the main partner country for exports was Germany with $1.1 billion. This was followed by the U.K. with $900 million, Iraq with $648 million and the U.S. with $637 million.
The ratio of manufacturing industry products in total exports was 94.9 percent in the said month.
During the period of January to August, Turkish exports increased by 5.2 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching $108.6 billion. Imports also rose by 5.9 percent and totaled $157.8 billion. The foreign trade deficit in this period surged by 7.6 percent and hit $49.1 billion.