The export climate for Turkish manufacturers remained strong in October even as the main index tracking tendencies in top markets dropped to a three-month low, a survey showed on Monday.
Türkiye Manufacturing Sector Export Markets Climate Index fell to 52.5 in October from 53.2 in September, the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) said in a monthly bulletin.
The index measures the activity conditions in the main export markets of the Turkish manufacturing sector.
All figures measured above the threshold value of 50 in the index indicate an improvement in the export climate, while values below 50 signal deterioration.
Despite the decline, the index still indicated a significant ongoing improvement in demand conditions in export markets. Thus, the export market climate strengthened for the 34th consecutive month.
Among the countries monitored in the survey in October, the fastest increase in economic activity occurred in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which accounts for 3.5% of Turkish manufacturing sector exports. In this country, production continued to grow rapidly, albeit at a slightly slower pace compared to September.
Similarly, growth in the U.S. remained significant despite a loss of momentum. With October’s increase in production, the expansion process in the world’s largest economy reached its 45th month.
Economic activity also continued to rise in many other export markets important for Turkish manufacturing products. In the U.K., production increased at the highest pace in the past eight months, while growth continued in Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.
A relatively negative development in October was the renewed decline in production in France and Romania. Manufacturing production in Poland continued to decline, but the drop was very limited, marking the slowest contraction of the five-month downturn.
In October, the sharpest decline in economic activity among the monitored countries occurred in Brazil.
In Brazil, production fell sharply for the fourth consecutive month, marking the fastest decline since the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies partially attributed this drop to disruptions caused by the presidential election.
Commenting on the results, S&P Global Market Intelligence economics director Andrew Harker stated that while demand conditions in export markets continued to improve in October, there were some signs of slowing compared to the rapid pace of global economic growth seen in September.
"Political instability and uncertainty in some economies such as Brazil and France are causing companies to postpone purchasing decisions, negatively affecting demand conditions. Therefore, Turkish exporters hope that the international political environment will become more stable by 2027, thus supporting growth expectations,” he said.