The AIMSAD Woodworking Machinery Sector Report, prepared using foreign trade data from Turkish Statistical Institute’s (TUIK) foreign trade data, has been published. The report, which covers the first 10 months of the year, revealed that the downward trend in import rates persisted despite tightening market conditions.

According to the data in the Woodworking Machinery Sector Report prepared using foreign trade data from TUIK, the sector achieved exports worth $121.557 million and imports worth $78.556 million in the January-October period. During the same period, production reached $300.141 million, while domestic sales amounted to $257.140 million. In this period, when the export-to-import coverage ratio was recorded at 155%, the foreign trade balance increased to $40 million.

Russia became the most significant partner in machinery exports over 10 months

In the January-October period of 2024, the Turkish woodworking machinery sector achieved its highest machinery sales to Russia, totaling $11.284 million. The second most important export market for the sector was the United States, with $5.766 million, followed by Bulgaria in third place with $4.922 million. Other countries to which woodworking machinery was exported during the period covered in the report were, in order: Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kosovo, Spain, Algeria, Italy, and Egypt.

Exports of machines in the “Others”  category reached $30 million

The most exported machines were those in the “Others” category, leading the way with $34.042 million in exports during the January-October period of 2024. Sawing machines came in second with $29.786 million, while planing, milling or molding (by cutting) machines took third place with $17.756 million. At the other end of the spectrum, splitting, slicing, or paring machines had the lowest export figures, totaling just $1.285 million.

Sawing machines were the most imported product group

In the January-October period of 2024, sawing machines stood out as the leading machinery group in Türkiye’s imports, with a total volume of $19.211 million. They were followed by machines capable of performing different machine operations without tool changes between operations, with imports worth $13.491 million. Machines in the “Others” category ranked third, with $11.920 million in imports.

China, Italy, and Germany led the import markets

During the 10-month period, the highest machinery imports were made from China and Italy, respectively, followed by Germany in third place. In the January-October period, Türkiye imported $28.204 million worth of machinery from China, $26.975 million from Italy, and $10.988 million from Germany. Imports from these three countries accounted for 88% of total imports.