The export climate for Turkish manufacturers gathered further pace in April, a survey showed Monday, driven by momentum in production in its top export markets.
The Manufacturing Export Climate Index rose to 53.1 points last month, according to a survey by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO).
The reading marked the third straight month of strengthening in the export demand, remaining above the threshold level of 50 that separates growth from contraction.
The figure rose to 51.7 points in February after dropping to 49.5 in January. It maintained pace to reach 52.6 points in March. The April figure marked the highest level in nearly a year.
The improvement mainly stemmed from momentum in Germany, the largest export market for Turkish manufacturers, where production increased in April and reached the highest pace of the past year, indicating a recovery after the slowdown at the beginning of the year, the survey said.
Similarly, the growth rate reached its highest level in the last year in the United Kingdom, while economic activity achieved its most robust increase in 11 months in the United States.
Although France, Italy and Spain remained in the growth zone in the first month of the second quarter, signals of weak demand in Europe's manufacturing sector are clouding the outlook. Production declined in the Netherlands, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic in April.
Some regions of the Middle East maintained a strong growth trend in April, the survey showed.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) recorded a significant expansion in non-oil economic activity and the growth rate reached its highest level in the last six months.
The production accelerated slightly in Saudi Arabia, while Qatar maintained strong growth. The continued decline in economic activity in Egypt and Lebanon was recorded as a relatively adverse development.
Demand remained weak in some regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. While production declined in South Africa and Kenya, the easing of the cash crisis led to a recovery in economic activity in Nigeria, the survey said.
The growth that started in China at the beginning of this year as restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic were relaxed continued in April, and the country's economy maintained its recovery trend. Production showed a strong increase, despite a slight slowdown in pace.
India, where economic activity has been growing at the highest rate since July 2010, maintained its position as one of the countries with the most robust growth performance among the economies covered by the survey. Brazil and Russia also recorded improvements in production.
"Production increased in the four largest export markets of the Turkish manufacturing sector at the beginning of the year's second quarter. This provided a strong foundation for the fastest recovery in export climate in nearly a year," said Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
"The much healthier outlook of the export markets compared to the beginning of the year will support the revitalization of the manufacturing sector in the second quarter."