Machine Exporters Association (MAİB), announced Turkey’s total exports of machinery as 17.9 billion dollars. In the same period, the foreign trade deficit in the machinery, decreased by 5 billion dollars. The machinery sector, which increased its exports by 4.2 percent compared to the end of last year, closed the year with exports of 17.9 billion dollars, along with the exports from the free trade zones, this number approached to 19 billion dollars. According to the ‘overall trade data’ this value which has been announced as 180,5 billion, corresponds to 10.5 percent share in Turkey’s total exports. With the emphasis of the domestic industry, that decreased 17,6 percent of Turkey’s machinery imports this year, increased the export-import coverage ratio by 76.3 percent. In the same period, the foreign trade deficit decreased about 5 billion dollars.  Stating that they are satisfied that the foreign trade deficit, which was 10 billion dollars in the previous year, was closed by half, Kutlu Karavelioğlu, the president of the machinery Exporters Association, continued his words as follows: “The machinery foreign trade is shrinking all over the world; not only in Turkey, everyone is fronting their own machines of their country. In 2019, 450 billion dollars of good were taken under protection on a global scale, most of these goods were machines. While the world exports of machinery, especially the leading countries, decreased in the past year, we managed to increase our machinery exports by more than 4 percent. The main factor that made us successful in this process was the positive perception of Turkish machines and the optimum position on the quality-price axis.”

‘In 2012 we will be more comfortable’

The most exported machines in 2019 were cooling machines and air conditioners, internal combustion engines and components, washing and drying machines, construction and mining machines, and pumps and compressors. The products that provided the highest rate of increase in exports in this period, were electric motors and generators, load lifting, transporting, stacking machines and tractors, and the machines used in agriculture and forestry. Pointing out that the stagnation in the target market economies, which did not grow as predicted in 2019 due to political uncertainties, geopolitical risks and technology wars, was affected the most by machinery and equipment investments, Karavelioğlu stated that the Turkish machinery sector managed to turn the situation in favor of its debt-free and stable structure and he continues his words as it follows:” Apart from our export performance, which differs positively from the rest of the world, it was a year in which we achieved significant gains domestically. We have been involved as the center sector in almost all strategy plans, in a way, we have been a partner to the responsibility of our Ministries. With the contribution of the steps taken to improve the investment environment, we expect domestic fixed capital investments to increase again in the second half of the year, eight quarters later. We made good use of the challenging process that we left behind by increasing the efficiency of our machines, diversifying our products and increasing technology levels. In 2020, we will show everyone again that Turkey has a machinery sector which increasingly becoming more competitive.’’

‘Machine users are responsible for the future of the world’

Pointing out that the concept of efficiency has become an important criterion in the performance of the machines and it is a basic criterion to carry on more business with less cost, Karavelioğlu evaluated the developments, which will dominate the world trade very soon, as follows: “Machine users should consider many parameters such as energy consumption, waste, and sustainability in investment decisions evaluated within the concept of quality. It should be remembered that the energy needs of the machines used for industrial production or services are met by irreversible damages to our sphere. ” Stating that climate change is the biggest problem of humanity and that, if it is not included in industrial strategies, it will become the factor that will affect the share of a country in foreign trade most, Karavelioğlu continues his words as follows: ‘’The EU, Turkey’s largest trading partner,  is implementing the carbon tax. EU countries will not import the goods of countries that are indifferent to the bad course of events, in a planned process. Although it is perceived as a protectionist foreign trade policy, we deem this approach supremely suitable to humanity’s basic values, and as Turkey’s machinery manufacturers, we aim to raise public awareness to manage this phenomenon by taking timely measures. ”

‘We cannot allow imports to increase faster than exports’

The machinery sector exported  1.5 billion dollars in February. The sector, whose total export was 2.9 billion dollars in the first 2 months of the year, managed to achieve 5.2 percent increase compared to the same period of the previous year. The sector, whose total export was 2.9 billion dollars in the first 2 months of the year, managed to achieve 5.2 percent increase compared to the same period of the previous year.  Indicating that they achieved an increase in the German market, which experienced a decrease in exports in 2019, Kutlu Karavelioğlu, President of the Machinery Exporters Association, continued his words as follows: “The Covid-19 outbreak is accelerating the axis shift in global production. The strong relationships we have established up to now have a positive effect on our machinery exports in times of global crisis as before. In this period when we focus all our attention on exports, we are concerned with the rapid increase in machinery imports ”.

Underlying that they expect machinery and equipment investments in Turkey to start to increase as of the second quarter  this year, and drawing attention to the rise in confidence indices, despite the risk of recession around the world, Kutlu Karavelioğlu, President of the Machinery Exporters Association, continued his words as follows: “If this situation continues, we can expect that the capacity utilization rates will increase in the general manufacturing industry and developments related to new investments will be on the agenda. Investment periods are times that stimulate machine imports and the times to be more careful than ever. We anxiously monitor the data of TURKSTAT, which showed that exports increased by 8.8 percent, and imports increased by 16.1 percent in January. Last year, we managed to reduce the machine foreign trade deficit to 5 billion dollars, we should develop new measures to protect this advantage as much as possible. We should take a strict stance in the implementation of the legislation that encourages and obliges domestic machinery use.’’

The countries where the machinery industry exports most in the first 2 months of the year are Germany, USA, Italy, England, and France. Machinery manufacturers’ exports to Russia increased by 36 percent on a value basis compared to the same period last year. While the products exported by the machinery sector are cooling machines and internal combustion engines, the increase in exports in construction and mining machinery, agricultural machinery, and turbine turbojets exceeded 10 percent.