Turkish trade deficit widens in November on commodity rally

Turkey’s trade deficit widened in November as the rally in commodity prices pushed imports higher, according to preliminary data by the country’s Ministry of Trade on Thursday.

The gap expanded 5.4% from year earlier to $5.33 billion last month, while imports rose 26.7% to $26.7 billion and exports surged 33.4% to $21.5 billion.

Early data show weakness in the lira—which lost more than a quarter of its value last month—has done little to balance Turkey’s foreign trade in goods. 

Below are some of the highlights from trade data: 

• Imports of mineral oils—an indicator of Turkey’s energy bill—stood at $6.5 billion in November, up 155.5% from a year earlier, highlighting the risks to Turkey’s foreign imbalances from rising oil and natural gas prices
• Steel and iron imports rose 75.3% to $2.55 billion during the same period, showing the impact from a broad-based rally in commodity prices as global vaccine roll out fueled world economic growth
• On the other hand, supply bottlenecks slowed growth in some of the key export sectors, such as cars where shipments abroad fell 9% to $2.16 billion