Market Monitor - Machinery - Turkey 2016

• Exports to Russia have deteriorated
• Banks have become more restrictive to lend
• Level of protracted payments is high

The Turkish machinery sector faces some troubles, with sales under pressure since 2015. Political uncertainty leading to less capital expenditure and high interest rates have a negative effect on the industry. In 2015 machinery imports decreased 10% year-on-year, while exports fell 11.7%, with machinery exports to Russia even contracting 45%. Turkish machinery exporters dependent on this market may have trouble compensating for lost market share elsewhere. The same accounts for machinery exporters to Iraq and Azerbaijan due to the political and economic problems in these countries.

Due to external demand-driven weakness in the textile and garment industry, machinery sales related to this sector are projected to lose volume in 2016. However, it is expected that positive developments in the construction and automotive sectors will support demand for machines.

The decrease in commodity prices like metals helped to sustain machinery businesses´ profit margins, but competition in the Turkish machinery market is high due to overcapacity, leading to price wars. At the same time, Chinese competitors are improving their productivity, catching up in terms of technology and overall quality while maintaining lower costs. However, compared to many developed markets the Turkish machinery industry still benefits from lower labour costs.

Turkish machinery businesses with insufficient equity and long sales terms tend to use more bank loans. However, due to more volatile political and economic conditions and a high amount of non-performing loans, bank lending has become more restricted.

Payment duration in the machines/engineering sector is between 90 days and 120 days on average, and the level of protracted payments is high. Machinery insolvencies have increased over the past six months, and are expected to level off in the coming six months. However, more insolvencies are expected if the currently difficult economic and political situation should deteriorate further.