Turkish exporters turn to other countries instead of Israel

By Burhan Sansarlioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) – Over four months into Israel’s attacks on Gaza, the number of producers in other countries exporting to Israel fell, as prominent sectors shifted their routes to other markets.

As more and more people around the world take up positions against Israel’s attacks on Gaza, international and Turkish companies are doing the same.

Since the beginning of the conflict in October, the volume of trade between Israel and Türkiye has been dropping, with significant decreases in the exports of Turkish companies to Israel compared to September 2023, before the conflict.

Turkish exporters are not only dependent on certain markets, but they also expand their market network and deliver products to all corners of the world, and with the beginning of the conflict, the main and alternative markets they turned to replaced Israel in short order.

Türkiye’s exports to Israel fell 31.1% in January, from $461.9 million to $318 million, compared to September, before the conflict began, according to recent data from Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TIM) compiled by Anadolu.

While Israel accounted for 2% of Türkiye’s total exports in September, by January 2024 this figure dropped to 1.6%.

- Turkish ship, yacht, services sectors and others see no exports to Israel

Israel was the second-largest export market for the Turkish steel industry in September, but it fell to 10th place in January, as the sector turned to Germany, the US, and Iraq instead of Israel.

Steel industry exports to Israel plummeted 62% from $92.4 million in September to $35.1 million in January.

Israel was Türkiye’s eighth-largest export market for pulses, oilseeds, and products, but it fell to 13th place in January, and the country was Türkiye’s fifth-biggest market for exports of fresh fruit and vegetables in September, but it dwindled to just 17th place in January.

Exports of cereals, pulses, oilseeds, and similar products to Israel fell 35.6% to $21.3 million, while exports of fresh fruits and vegetables dropped 61.9% to $4 million.

In January, Syria, Germany, Libya, Venezuela replaced Israel as Türkiye’s cereal, pulse, and oilseed export markets, while Ukraine, Poland, and Bulgaria did the same in the fresh fruit and vegetables sector.

Exports of 21 sectors to Israel fell in January compared to September 2023, as steel and fresh fruits and vegetables were also the sectors with the largest drops in exports to Israel in this period.

These sectors were followed by leather and leather products, as their exports plummeted 54.7% to $1.1 million.

The ship, yacht, and services sectors and ornamental plants and products sectors made no exports to Israel in January.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim