Furniture, paper and forest products sector exports reach USD 3.8 billion in first half of the year
Turkey's Exporters Assembly (TİM) released June 2024 export figures. The furniture, paper and forest products sector, which recorded USD 737 million in exports the previous month, achieved USD 545 million in exports in June due to the impact of a 9-day holiday break. The sector reached USD 3.8 billion in exports during the first six months of 2024. According to data shared by Turkey's Exporters Assembly (TİM), Turkey's exports in the first 6 months of the year amounted to USD 125 billion 446 million 326 thousand. Furniture, paper and forest products sector exports, which stood at USD 664 million in June 2023, reached USD 545 million in the same month this year. In the first six months of the year, Iraq topped the list of countries with the highest exports from the sector at USD 526 million. The United Kingdom ranked second with USD 200 million, and the United States ranked third with USD 182 million in exports. The list continued with countries such as Germany, Iran, Morocco, Libya, France and Romania, while the United States showed the highest percentage increase in export share at 25.64%.
Public holidays cause disruption
Despite the stagnation and crises experienced in global trade in recent years, the furniture, paper and forest products sector continues to work with high energy in line with its targets. Erkan Özkan, Chairman of Istanbul Furniture, Paper and Forest Products Exporters Association, commenting on the sector's June exports, said, "Together with all our sector representatives, we continue to work with intense and high energy toward our USD 8 billion target that we have set for ourselves. As we have mentioned, we inevitably see a decline in exports during public holidays. The 9-day holiday break in June inevitably affected our exports. We have maintained an upward momentum in recent months, and there are no extended public holidays in the second half of the year. For this reason, we hope to maintain the momentum we have gained and successfully reach our target. We are aware that conditions are challenging, but for example, we are increasing our market share in the United States, one of our target markets, with each passing day. Each of our exporters and producers is carrying out valuable work. Together we are making efforts to spread domestic production to the world. We believe that we will reach our targets with this conviction for both this year and the years to come," he said.
