UPDATE - Turkey's exports up 14.8 percent in February

UPDATE WITH COMMENTS AND MORE DETAILS FROM TIM CHAIRMAN

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's exports jumped 14.8 percent to reach $12.9 billion in February, compared to the same month of 2017, the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) announced Thursday.

The figure makes February 2018 the best-performing February for exports in Turkish history, TIM said.

Turkey's exports surged 12.8 percent to $25.3 billion in the first two months of 2018 over the same period in 2017.

The country's 12-month exports reached $159.03 billion, up 11.1 percent from the previous time interval.

Turkey's exports have been rising since December 2016, Mehmet Buyukeksi, head of the exporters’ assembly, said in a statement.

He added: "We hope that exports will continue to rise until the end of 2018."

TIM and Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci declared that Turkey would break records by crossing the medium-term program’s (MTP) $169 billion target in 2018, he stressed.

He also said figures for the first two months support this goal.

-Auto, clothing, chemical sectors

Fully 22 percent of Turkey's exports this February came from the automotive sector with $2.8 billion, up 25.7 percent compared to February 2017, he stated.

Auto sector exports were followed by the clothing ($1.4 billion) and chemical products ($1.3 billion) sectors, he added.

Turkey's exports to Germany, Italy and Britain, Turkey's top trading partners, rose 21.7 percent, 27.7 percent and 20.4 percent, respectively, year-on-year in February, he said.

He underlined that over the month, Turkey's exports to European Union countries also surged 24.6 percent, while its exports to Africa jumped 16.7 percent year-on-year.

He said in February, 53 percent of Turkey's exports went to the EU.

The country's exports also rose by 1.5 percent in terms of quantity in February, he said, adding:

"In terms of value, Turkey's exports rose 14.8 percent, in other words, we exported the same goods at a higher price. Research and development, innovation, and design work were reflected in our exports."

Istanbul was the Turkish city that exported the most in February with $5.3 billion, followed by prominent industrial centers Bursa ($1.3 billion) and Kocaeli ($1.2 billion), he said.

Turkey's exports were $12.45 billion in January and $157.02 billion in 2017, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).