Some 60 Chinese brands sought opportunities to branch out to the Middle East through Turkey during a narrow goods and fittings fair that was held for the first time this year on June 12-15 by Media Force, a fair organization company. The fair at Istanbul's CNR Expo Center, which failed to grab the attention of domestic companies, hosted a total of 200 firms.

The sale of Chinese goods will decline due to anti-dumping regulations in the EU and the U.S., therefore the companies are expected to orient toward new markets through Turkey, said Yavuz Onay, chairman of the Turkish-Chinese Business Council. The sector is facing tough times due to increasing iron, steel and oil prices, said Özhan Erem, managing director of Media Force.

Mandatory transformation:

China has an important status in world exports; however, there is a transformation process at present, said Onay. Global quality standards are gradually rising, which will influence the future of market leader China, he added.

“Anti-dumping implementations targeting goods below quality standards will decrease the volume of Chinese exports for a while,” he said. “At the end of this process, which I expect will last about a year, Chinese firms will increase their quality standards for this market while providing their existing low-cost products to Asia, East Europe and Middle East market through Turkey.”

Within the scope of the Customs Union, Turkish companies are imposing dumping pressure on the government for Chinese goods, Onay noted. “Just like in the past, dumping implementations will not serve as a solution now. Chinese domination of the market can be broken only through cutting costs of domestic goods.”

Seeking partners:

China-based Ningbo Universal Tools, which has an annual export volume of $800 million, aims to open out to the Middle East market via Turkey, said Jason Xu from the company's export unit. The firm is seeking a distributor in Istanbul, as there is a decline of sales to the U.S., their top importer, due to increasing oil costs and taxes, Xu said. “We will shift a substantial proportion of our sales to new markets from the U.S., which accounts for $500 million of our export volume.”

San Du Machinery is also facing a bottleneck in terms of exports to the West, said Mary Wan, from the Chinese firm's export department. The company has oriented toward third-world countries, Wan added. “Should we manage to find a proper partner in Turkey, we are planning to make the country a base for our Middle East exports.” BOX BOX:

Far East dominates narrow goods

  * Worldwide market is predicted to be over $10 billion in volume

  * China has a 30 percent share in the world market. Far Eastern countries, including China, have a 70 percent share

  * The annual market volume in Turkey is around $750 million

  * Turkey's production is around 400,000 tons. Out of this production, 60 percent is exported

  * Aggregate export volume is expected to approximate $400 million

ULAS TOSUN

ISTANBUL – Referans

Friday, June 20, 2008

Source: www.turkishdailynews.com.tr