Moderate improvement in Turkiye's Feb export climate: Industry chamber

As has been the case for some time, the Middle East posted the strongest rates of expansion in business activity worldwide, while elsewhere trends were more mixed.

The chamber’s manufacturing export climate index for Turkiye registered 51.1 in February, changing little from 51.2 in January and signalling a further strengthening in export demand conditions. Turkish exporters have now seen the climate improve in 14 consecutive months.

Of all the economies covered by the report, the largest expansion in business activity in February was seen in Saudi Arabia. Here the pace of growth was substantial and only slightly weaker than January’s 18-month high.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also recorded a rapid increase in non-oil activity, and the pace of growth quickened slightly from the previous month.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, output increased in Kuwait and Lebanon, was unchanged in Egypt and fell in Qatar, the chamber said in a release.

The most marked contraction in the month was seen in France, which is the destination for 4 per cent of Turkish manufacturing exports. The fall in output in France was marked and the steepest in just over a year.

Elsewhere in Europe, trends were mixed. Germany posted a fractional decrease in business activity, while output was unchanged in the UK.

Other important markets such as the Netherlands and Romania saw output fall, but growth was registered in Italy and Spain. In fact, the expansion in Italy was the most marked in nine months.

A further rise in business activity was observed in the United States in February, thereby extending the current sequence of growth to 25 months. The pace of expansion was only modest and the weakest since April 2024.

The newly launched purchasing managers’ index covering the Pakistan manufacturing sector showed a solid monthly expansion in production during February. Output has risen in each month since the survey began in May 2024.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)