The chemical industry has maintained the upward trend in the first half of the year, and remained at the third place with the highest contribution to Turkish economy. According to İstanbul Chemicals and Chemical Products Exporters’ Association (İKMİB) data; chemical exports have increased by 11.79 percent to 9 million 477 thousand tons in terms of volume, and by 13.17 percent to 7 billion 955 million USD in terms of value in the first half of the year.
European Union countries have the highest share -35 percent in the exports for the January-June 2017 period. In addition to the demand from EU countries, the increase in exports to the US and Russia has supported the upward trend. Exports to the US increased by 36.74 percent to 334 million 337 thousand USD, making it the 5th country among the top importers from Turkey. Exports to Russia increased by 35.21 percent to 144 million 653 thousand USD, and the country ranks the 18th among the top importers from Turkey.
Top 10 importing countries from Turkey for the chemical industry in the January-June 2017 period are respectively: United Arab Emirates, Germany, Iraq, Egypt, USA, Italy, Iran, Spain, Singapore, and Greece.
In terms of subsectors for chemical exports in the first half of the year; plastics and plastic products made the highest contribution, while the mineral fuels and oils had the strongest increase. In the January-June 2017 period, plastics and plastic products retained its leader position with 2 billion 545 million USD exports by 1.17 percent increase. Mineral fuels, oils and products ranked the second with 2 billion 67 million USD exports by 61.82 percent increase, and rubber and rubber goods held the third place with 607 million 586 thousand USD exports by 3.20 percent increase.
