DUBAI/ISTANBUL- Some Turkish exporters are
re-routing food, clothing and other goods to circumvent a months-long
unofficial blockade by Saudi Arabia that has reduced trade between the regional
rivals to record lows, according to exporters and traders.
اضافة اعلان
Production in nearby countries allows exporters to obtain customs
documents and ditch “Made in Turkey” product tags, allowing goods to enter
Saudi Arabia, exporters, traders and a diplomat told Reuters.
Riyadh has never publicly acknowledged the boycott against Turkey,
but last year top Saudi businessmen endorsed it as a response to what they
called hostility coming from Ankara, particularly since the 2018 murder of
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Turkey raised the boycott issue this week at a World Trade
Organisation (WTO) Goods Council meeting in Geneva, at which Saudi Arabia’s “restrictive
policies and practices concerning Turkey” was discussed and Riyadh responded,
the WTO’s website said. Ankara’s move could help bring about a settlement.
A review of official trade data shows that in the first quarter of
the year Turkish exports to the kingdom plunged 93 percent on an annual basis
to $56 million.
Exports of food, electronics, garments, jewellery and automotive
goods were all down more than 90 percent from a year earlier, according to the
Turkish Exports Assembly.
“A black market is now emerging where brokers take the Turkish
goods to other ports and forge the documents so they appear to be coming from
China or Europe for fees,” said one importer of building materials to Saudi
Arabia, who requested anonymity.
Trade data also shows unusual parallel jumps of 200 percent to 400
percent in Turkish garments, textiles, chemicals and jewellery arriving in Oman
and Lebanon.
“Some companies who rely on Saudi Arabia as a main client
re-routed their production lines in order to continue to be able to sell,”
another trade company official told Reuters.
Seref Fayat, head of The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges
of Turkey (TOBB) clothing and garment council, said manufacturers were
considering sending fabrics the other way, to Bulgaria or Serbia, for “finishing
touches” on Saudi-bound goods.
In so doing, Turkish companies could honour contracts with retail
brands which commit them to global deliveries, including to the kingdom, he
said. “Exporters are trying to overcome the blockade, but this means additional
costs out of their pocket.”
The data published on Thursday showed Turkish exports to Bulgaria
and Serbia were up 58 percent and 44 percent respectively in March, compared to
a 38 percent rise to all countries in that time frame.
Turkey-based business councils for Oman, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia
did not immediately comment.
‘Restrictive policies’
Three traders who spoke to Reuters said large Turkish companies
had held talks in Saudi Arabia in recent months to reopen trade with the kingdom,
without any clear breakthrough.
A diplomat who requested anonymity said Saudi traders had lost
billions of riyals last year as goods piled up at customs.
They complained to authorities and eventually found “a turnaround
to still get the Turkish products in, especially those with no better
alternatives”, the diplomat said.
Riyadh’s media office did not comment on the reported blockade. In
an interview in November - before trade started dropping dramatically - the
foreign minister said no data pointed to a boycott.
Turkey’s main opposition party has ramped up pressure for a
tit-for-tat response to the boycott and compensation for export losses. “If you
put a ban on my goods, (we should) put a ban on yours,” Republican People’s
Party’s (CHP) lawmaker Mahmut Tanal said in an interview.
In a response to Tanal, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said
Turkey would “take any necessary steps” if dialogue and diplomacy fail to end
the “unofficial Saudi boycott”.
Ankara and Riyadh have in recent months attempted to repair some
diplomatic damage after a decade of tension, especially evident since the
Khashoggi murder in 2018.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi King Salman agreed in
November to “keep channels of dialogue open to improve bilateral ties and
overcome issues,” and Ankara has also recently pursued better relations with
Saudi ally Egypt.
Support for the boycott from top Saudi businessmen drew complaints
from Turkish trade groups last year, but only a muted response from Turkey’s
government.
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