Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil said that Egyptian exports to Turkey increased by 44.2% during the first10 months (10M) of 2017. Moreover, he explained that Egyptian exports to Turkey increased to $1.657bn in October 2017 compared to $1.149bn during the same period last year. Kabil pointed out that the Egyptian exports to imports ratio rose from 50% during the first 10 months of 2016 to 90% during the same period of this year. These results came according to the report handed to the minister from the Egyptian Commercial Service Office (ECS) in Istanbul regarding the indicators of trade movement between Egypt and Turkey during the first 10 months of this year. On the other hand, the minister said that Egyptian imports from Turkey declined by 18.7% in the period from January to October 2017. Moreover, "Egyptian imports from Turkey declined in the period from January to October 2017, to record $1.8bn compared to $2.2bn during the same period last year, bringing the total trade volume during the same period to $3.457bn," Kabil explained. For his part, Ahmed Antar, first deputy minister of industry and trade and ECS president, said that the increase in Egyptian exports to Turkey came as part of the Istanbul ECS's efforts to increase Egyptian exports of traditional and non-traditional items to the Turkish market, as it is forecast to be one of the main markets for Egyptian exports in the future. "The large increase in Egyptian exports to the Turkish market during the first 10 months of this year is due to the increase of Egyptian exports of methanol by 299.5%," Antar explained. He added that Egyptian exports of methanol during the period from January to October 2017 recorded about $93.5m compared to about $23.4m during the same period last year. Meanwhile, Antar said that Egyptian exports of urea fertilisers increased by 145.6% during the first 10 months of 2017, to reach about $282m compared to $114m during the same period last year. Finally, he assured that Egyptian exports of canvas and denim amounted to about $66.8m compared to $42.3m during the same period last year, with a 57.8% increase. In August, Kabil announced in a press release that Egyptian exports to Turkey rose by 44% during the first half of this year compared to the same period last year. "Egyptian exports to Turkey reached $903m in the first half of this year, compared to $628m during the same period last year. Meanwhile, Egyptian imports from Turkey declined significantly, recording $914m compared to $1.5bn during the same period last year, a decrease of 40%," according to the minister.
