Following the attempted coup d’etat over the weekend, Turkey has experienced limited shipping and operational disruptions throughout the nation.
Following the attempted coup d’etat over the weekend in Turkey, the nation has experienced limited disruption to the logistics industry.
“There has been no impact to operations at the Turkish Straits following the attempted coup in Turkey, with all passages taking place as per schedule,” maritime services provider Inchcape Shipping Solutions said. “However, vessel clearances can not currently be granted at Karadeniz Ereğli anchorage, as well as some other anchorage areas including Mersin.”
Inchcape also added, “There are also some delays to sailing clearances due to extra security by the authorities. At some ports, sailing permission from the Harbour Master is being withheld until vessels’ completion of immigration clearance.” The maritime services provider expressed how it is working with its clients to minimize possible delays and will keep them updated.
“We did not observe any problems or disruption. The ports were fully operational during and after the attempt. The normalization was rapid and business continues as usual. Work resumed like any other Monday after the weekend,” said one executive, who asked, however, that he and his firm not be identified.
“In fact, it is business as normal, said Michael Storgaard, a spokesman for Danish liner carrier Maersk Line. “Our operations have not been impacted and business activity (bookings, phone calls, etc.) seems to be as per usual.”
Tugba Kizilay, an account executive at Turkon America, said the carrier’s office in Turkey reported there was no issue and ships were working normally.
Turkey’s ports are key destinations for container liner services calling the Eastern Mediterranean. The list below, gathered from ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting’s Port Dashboard tool, illustrates the liner services frequenting ports in Turkey. All of these loops operate with fully cellular containerships, with the exception of Nordana’s Med/LAM/USA service, which operates with roll-on/roll-off vessels; and Grimaldi’s Euro-Med Service, which operates with pure car/truck carriers.
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Source: BlueWater Reporting
Free navigation through the Bosphorous and Dardenelles is essential for ports in Russia, the Ukraine, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania as well as northern Turkey.
Turkey is the 17th largest economy in the world, and in less than a decade, the nation’s per capita income has tripled and now exceeds $10,500, according to World Bank.
“Turkey’s rising prosperity has been shared. Between 2002 and 2012, the consumption of the bottom 40 percent increased at around the same rate as the national average,” World Bank said. “Over the same period, extreme poverty fell from 13 to 4.5 percent and moderate poverty fell from 44 to 21 percent, while access to health, education, and municipal services vastly improved for the less well-off. Since the global financial crisis, Turkey has created some 6.3 million jobs, although increases in the labor force, including through a rise in the participation of women, has kept unemployment at around 10 percent.”
The European Union is Turkey’s number one import and export partner, while Turkey ranks as the EU’s seventh largest source of imports and fifth largest destination for exports.
Turkey’s top markets for exports are the EU, Iraq, Russia, the U.S., the United Arab Emirates and Iran, while the nation sources most of its imports from the EU, Russia, China, the U.S., Iran and South Korea, the European Commission said.
The U.S. Department of Census says that in 2015, the U.S. exported goods valued at just over $9.5 billion and imported goods valued at nearly $7.9 billion. In the first five months of this year U.S. exports amounted to $4.35 billion and imports $3.33 billion.
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said that Turkey was the 26th largest goods export market in 2013, with the top export categories being oil, iron and steel, aircraft, machinery, and cotton yarn and fabric. The country was the 11th largest market for agricultural exports, with major exports being cotton, tree nuts, soybean meal and soybeans that year.
In the same year, Turkey was the U.S.’s 41st largest supplier of goods imports, with major imports including vehicles, machinery, iron and steel, iron and steel products and stone, plaster, cement, travertine and marble. Leading agricultural imports from Turkey include tobacco, processed fruit and vegetables, and vegetable oils, said the USTR.
A report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published in June said annual GDP growth was projected to remain close to 4 percent this year and in 2017.
“A sharp hike in the minimum wage and social transfers in early 2016 will boost private consumption. However, the associated increase in labor costs, despite subsidies to alleviate them in the first year, will hurt competitiveness and exports. As the short-run impact of the jump in household income wanes, growth is projected to edge down in 2017,” it said. “Business and household confidence remain frail in the context of severe regional geopolitical tensions and a difficult domestic political climate” and that “Productivity is undermined by the fragmentation of the business sector. Efficient firms cannot grow at full potential due to shortcomings in the regulatory framework. At the same time, low-productivity entities, which employ a large share of the low-skilled, survive thanks to the incomplete enforcement of rules and regulations.”
OECD highlighted the risks to Turkey’s economy from events such as this week’s coup, saying “if regional and domestic tensions were to intensify, domestic demand and tourism would be adversely affected. Any associated weakening in international confidence may trigger capital outflows and exchange rate volatility, weighing on short-term growth.”
The report also said, “Turkey is exposed to global risks arising from China’s prospects and from the expected normalization of U.S. monetary policy and would be negatively affected by a slowdown in Europe.”
