Packaging Sector Achieved 2.2 Billion Dollars of Foreign Trade Surplus

Packaging exports of Türkiye achieved 6 billion 856 million dollars of export value in 2023. While exports decreased by 8 percent compared to 2022, the industry achieved 2 billion 257 million dollars of foreign trade surplus. The top three highest receivers of the industry's exports were the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy. The President of the ASD Turkish Packaging Manufacturers Association, Mr.Zeki Sarıbekir, who expresses that Turkey is influential in the world with its high value-added, quality products in the packaging sector, stated, "The economic problems experienced worldwide in 2023 also affected the exports of our sector. However, we can say that the recovery process in our exports will begin from the second half of 2024."

The export data for the packaging sector in 2023 has been announced. When looked at in terms of quantity, packaging exports, which were 3 million 257 thousand 692 tons in 2022, decreased to 3 million 12 thousand 142 tons in 2023. Experiencing an 8% loss in both quantity and value in 2023 compared to 2022, the sector's imports also decreased from 4 billion 832 million 483 thousand dollars to 4 billion 598 million 564 thousand dollars. There was also a decrease in imports in terms of quantity. Imports, which were 2 million 117 thousand 56 tons in 2022, became 1 million 994 thousand 206 tons in 2023. Thus, the total imports of the packaging sector decreased by 6% in quantity and 5% in value compared to 2022. During this period, the packaging sector provided a trade surplus of 2 billion 257 million 672 thousand dollars.

THE UNITED KINGDOM RANKS FIRST IN PACKAGING EXPORTS

When looking at the general totals according to the type of packaging, plastic packaging ranks first with a 63% share, paper/cardboard/corrugated packaging ranks second with a 23% share, metal packaging ranks third with a 9% share, glass packaging ranks fourth with a 4% share, and wooden packaging ranks fifth with a 1% share. In the country ranking of total packaging exports in 2023, the first place is occupied by the United Kingdom, the second place by Germany, the third place by Italy, the fourth place by Iraq, and the fifth place by the United States.

WE ARE HOPEFUL FOR 2024

Mr.Zeki Sarıbekir, President of ASD Turkish Packaging Manufacturers Association, expressed that Turkey is influential in the world with its high value-added, quality products in the packaging sector. "We closed the year 2022 with a significant increase in exports as a sector. The increased interest in packaging and packaged products worldwide, stemming from the pandemic, was one of the main factors contributing to the increase in exports. However, 2023 was a year of different scenarios for the whole world. While inflation rates increased globally, interest rates rose, and economies experienced tightening. Decreases in consumption were observed due to reasons such as crises and war situations between countries and problems in ship traffic. When all these factors came together, a decline in packaging exports occurred. However, we believe that this situation is temporary. Especially with 2024, signs of recovery in economies have begun to emerge. We expect an increase in demand from the second half of 2024. With all these factors, we believe that our packaging sector will experience resurgences both in production and exports, thanks to its quality structure and manufacturing strength."

Highest receivers of packaging exports (dollar)

Country                            2022             2023

United Kingdom     663,698,980    611,501,663
Germany                   608,274,672    542,859,705
Italy                          394,313,114    380,932,928
Iraq                            402,421,236    345,129,512
USA                          362,959,049    319,430,844

Sincerely,