What Can I Import From Turkey?
In the following video Alan Bracken talks about the advantages of importing from Turkey. He touches on his personal experiences doing business in Turkey as well as some of the best imports Turkey has to offer:
- Preferential Trading with Turkey
- Fruits and Vegetables
- Importing Clothes From Turkey
- Catering and Hospitality
- Leather Goods
When considering what countries to import products from, imports from Turkey should be definitely considered. Exports in 2020 from Turkey are down 0.9 percent overall from a year earlier to USD 16.09 billion in November 2020 but the drop was due to subdued global demand because of the pandemic, something that all countries are dealing with right now. However with this, could come some excellent deals if you can get your negotiation skills up to scratch.
Among major trade partners, exports rose to Germany, the US, France, Russia and indeed the UK. Needless to say there’s a lot of opportunity to import excellent quality products from Turkey right now.
Exports of road vehicles make up big 15 percent of its exports while manufactured goods make up 25 percent of Turkeys’ exports, (textiles, fabrics, made-up articles such as furniture, apparel and clothing, gold/jewelry, fashion accessories and food including fruits and vegetables.
If you’re looking for some ideas to import from Turkey and sell here’s our 6 hottest ideas for 2021:
Import Knitwear from Turkey
In January 2020, Turkey’s fashion exports increased 5.8 percent. Europe is Turkey’s biggest customer with Germany, Spain and the UK’s (Pre Brexit) import of Turkish fashion goods rising 4.7 percent, 8.7 percent and 3.9 percent respectively. The Netherlands, France, the United States, Denmark, Iraq and Poland were also among the main importers of the Turkish fashion demonstrating there’s a global demand for Turkish garments.
Turkey’s apparel industry accounted for 10.1 percent of it’s overall exports. Garment exports from Turkey are projected to rise by 10 percent due to the Coronavirus outbreak in China, causing delays with its shipments.
Import Jewelry From Turkey
Turkish jewelry exports hit record levels of $7.2 billion in 2019, surpassing the previously set goal of $6 billion, with numbers looking positive for 2020.
The top five destinations for Turkish jewelry exports are the U.K., United Arab Emirates, the U.S., Hong Kong and Switzerland.
Of that $7.2 billion in Turkish jewelry exports, almost half at $3.1 billion consisted of gold exports.
The foreign sales of gold products and jewelry goods totaled $2 billion, leading the aggregate jewelry exports. As well as the top five countries to import from Turkey above, Libya and Israel are also strong destinations for gold products and jewelry in 2019.
Import Carpets from Turkey
The America’s, Middle East and EU countries are the most significant markets for Turkey’s carpet exports. American countries account for 33.7 percent of exports from January – May 2020, an increase of 6.6%, reaching $287.2 million. The Middle East follows with a 27.5% share and the EU with a 16.4% share.
Exports to the US accounted for $273.1 million, January – May 2020, an increase of 8.6% on the same time last year. Carpet exports to Saudi Arabia, increased y 15.4% reaching $131.3 million. These are currently the largest two markets for importing Turkish carpets.
Import Ceramics From Turkey
On the country’s ceramic industry, he said Turkey’s ceramic exports last year totaled around $1.2 billion.
Turkey has one of the oldest and fastest-growing ceramic manufacturing industries in the world. The ceramic tile manufacturing industry is one of the most developed sectors in Turkey. The country has emerged as one of the top ten ceramic tile manufacturers in the world. The industry in the country is eighth in the world and third in Europe. Demand for Turkish ceramics is at its highest in the US, UK and Germany.
Import Furniture From Turkey
According to the World Furniture Outlook 2020-2021 report, Turkey rose from 14th to the 8th with furniture exports worth $3.5 billion in 2019, up 12% on the previous year. Turkey outpaced countries like Spain, Denmark, France, Mexico, Romania, Malaysia and the Netherlands.
The Turkish furniture sector, which aims to perform $10 billion export as of 2023, with Germany, the UK, the United Arab Emirates, France, and the U.S. all leading destinations for Turkish furniture.
Import Suits From Turkey
Turkish clothing exports, especially to EU markets, will continue increasing because high Chinese salaries are making China less price-competitive and Turkish apparel has a much better quality image than Chinese apparel. Another factor is the gradual depreciation of the Turkish lira is giving Turkish exporters an advantage on price.
4 Steps To Success
If you’re now thinking to get involved in the import export world, I highly recommend it! Here’s a personal testimonial of my experience, working 35+ years in import export. I’ve met some many great people, enjoyed my travels around the world and the satisfaction of negotiating deals and moving products around the world has been fantastic.
If the ideas above have inspired you, I recommend you take the next three steps.
Step 1: Sourcing Your Products
Once you’ve decided on some products, you’ll have to source where to buy them. Finding sellers of your products is also half the fun. If you’re in a position to travel and explore, do it! It’s a great opportunity to expand your horizons. Not so easy in these times of a global pandemic but eventually we’ll be able to travel again.
If you can’t travel, there’s always Google, AliBaba and AliExpress. This can be a great place to start. For more ideas and an much more in-depth look into sourcing products, check out our blog in sourcing products internationally.
Step 2: Finding Buyers
Perhaps the biggest question is inevitably, how do I find buyers for my products?
This is without doubt the most common question that I’m asked. Well, the good news is, there’s more than one way to do this. The bad news is, there’s no “easy” way. It’s all going to take some hard work and perseverance but it can most certainly be done and some good profits are no doubt waiting for you.
For my biggest hints and tips after a lifetime in commercial buying and selling check out our blog post on finding buyers.
Step 3: Understand the Basics
You’re going to need to understand at a minimum, the basics of import and export. Don’t jump in and start buying products, hoping to sell them by crossing your fingers. You’ll lose money, time and cause yourself a lot of stress.
To start, have a read of our blog post, How To Start an Import Export Business. It’s only the bare minimum but it will give you an idea of what you need to start thinking about and you’ll pick up some handy tips that I learned over the year.
Step 4: Import Export Training Courses Online
If you’re still sold on the idea of international trade, I can only advise you to educate yourself. It’s going to save you a lot of pain! Our online import export courses are taught with a series of pre-recorded videos so you can start any time, study at your own pace and there’s no deadline to complete.
Our courses teach you the practical knowledge you’ll need to know to trade successfully, confidently whilst maximising your profits. Taught by Alan Bracken, with 35+ years of commercial experience in logistics, he skips all the theory you’ll never need to know but teaches you the practical side of how to move your goods around the world.
We were voted Best Trade Education Provider in 2017 by Trade Finance Global and our course has been validated by the London Institute of Shipping and Transport.
Check out our reviews on TrustPilot to see just how our courses have benefited our students.
Photo by Svetlana Gumerova on Unsplash
