Romania turned out to be the market where Turkish exporters managed to increase their exports the most in the first half of the year, according to official data, highlighting the strengthening economic ties between the nations.
Shipments that grew by nearly $857 million (TL 28.32 billion) from a year ago lifted the January-June exports to Romania to almost $4 billion, the data compiled from the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) showed.
The growth underscores the burgeoning commercial and economic ties between the two nations, driven by strategic collaborations, particularly in the energy and construction sectors.
Efforts to strengthen the bilateral relationship were crowned with the establishment of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council on the sidelines of Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu’s visit to Ankara in May.
The council's formation was marked by the signing of six agreements, overseen by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Ciolacu.
Both leaders stressed the goal to lift the bilateral trade, which exceeded $10 billion over the last two years, to $15 billion in the near future.
Türkiye's overall exports rose 2% to $125.45 billion from January through June, according to the TIM data. Imports declined by 8.5% to $168.7 billion. The country's foreign trade deficit in the first half of the year fell by more than a third from a year ago to $43.2 billion.
In terms of export growth, Romania was followed by Iraq, where Turkish companies increased their sales by $739.2 million compared to a year ago to just over $5 billion, the data showed.
Shipments to the Netherlands climbed $714.1 million to nearly $4 billion, while sales to the United States rose $453.4 million year-over-year to $6.5 billion. Exports to Italy were up $374.9 million to $5.9 billion.
Most of the shipments to Romania, which climbed to rank ninth among the countries receiving the most Turkish exports, included chemicals and chemical products, valued at about $1.1 billion. T
The steel sector followed with $771.6 million, the automotive industry with $514.1 million, iron and non-ferrous metals with $210.8 million, and the fresh fruit and vegetable sector with $162.2 million.
The top destinations for Turkish goods in the January-June period were Germany, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Italy, Iraq, Spain, France and the Netherlands. Sales to Germany amounted to $8.9 billion, while shipments to the U.K. and Spain totaled $5.9 billion and $4.7 billion, respectively.
