Evaluation of 2021 And Forecasts For 2022 at Our Ports
A slowdown in trade means a slowdown in transport activities. In 2020, there was a 5.3% decline in global trade and then in 2021, global trade increased by about 13%.
Aydın Erdemir, Chairman of Port Operators’ Association of Turkey (TÜRKLİM)
A slowdown in trade means a slowdown in transport activities. In 2020, there was a 5.3% decline in global trade and then in 2021, global trade increased by about 13%. Naturally, this situation was also reflected in the global maritime trade. Global maritime transport declined by 3.6% in 2020. In 2021, the increase occurred at a relatively low rate of 3.6%, so that the 2019 tonnage of 11.9 billion tons was barely reached in 2021.
2021 was a year of strong growth, with our exports increasing by 33% and our imports by 24%, reaching a total of 497 billion dollars. This level is a record for Turkey and similarly, it has met with records in the transportation sector.
In 2021, more than half of the cargoes, which are subject to both export and import value, were transported by sea. The value of export cargoes transported by sea increased by 33% compared to 2020 and reached 134 billion dollars, while the value of imported cargoes increased by 37% and reached 157 billion dollars. These amounts mean that 59% of our exported and 58% of our imported goods are transported by sea. The weight of the cargo processed in Turkish ports is approximately 90% of the total tonnage of the products subject to foreign trade.
What Happened in Turkish Ports Between 2019-2021?
2021 was a year in which new records were broken in terms of the transportation sector and new handling figures have also been recorded as 526 million tons in total cargo and 12.6 million TEU in containers. When 2019, 2020 and 2021 are compared by figures handled, 484 million tons in 2019, 496 million tons in 2020 and 526 million in 2021 were recorded as a total number while in container figures handled, 11.59 million TEU in 2019, 11.63 million TEU in 2020 and 12.59 million TEU in 2021were recorded. The proportional change in the same periods was 5.2%, 2.6% and 6% in a total cargo, 6.9%, 0.3% and 8.7% in containers respectively. As can be seen, unlike the global data, the continuity of increase in Turkey has been achieved in both total cargo and container transportation. Of course, this situation arises from the dynamic structure of our country as well as increasing strategic role of becoming a crossing country between Esat and West. We can also point out that during the pandemic period, there has been a serious acceleration in transit cargo handled in Turkey.
How 2022 Started, What Kind of Expectation Is There?
If the increase rates in 2021 can be maintained in Turkey, it can be predicted that we will reach approximately 560 million tons in total cargo and 13.7 million TEU in containers by the end of 2022. If these targets continue in the medium term, our ports will need to increase their capacities by starting new investments quickly to meet the increasing demand in the future. Otherwise, we will see a lot of bottlenecks as happened and being monitored in the USA, China, and some other western countries.
The pandemic has adversely affected the cruise industry the most. It is predicted that more than 1,200 ships will arrive in our country in 2022, and the total number of passengers will approach 2 million, with the additional measures taken, the increase in vaccination rates and the strong expectations that the effect of the epidemic will decrease.
The data for January and February of 2022 were realized in a way that supports these predictions and gave important signs that a course will be realized above 2021. In these two months, the total load increase at all ports in Turkey was at a significant rate of 11%, while the rate of increase in container handling was 7%.
As TÜRKLİM, we follow the development
TÜRKLİM; It is the single and strongest non-governmental organization of our port operators and port sector, which is the basic building block of our country's domestic and foreign trade and tourism by sea. The development of our ports should have a continuity within the framework of universal sustainability standards. For all these reasons, TÜRKLİM will continue to fulfil its duty as a follower of the development and change in the port sector.
At the beginning of February, we published the report "The Efficiency of Global Terminal Operators (GTO) in Container Transport and Its Reflections on Turkey". On the other hand, we will publish our sector report, which we regularly publish every year, by the end of April 2022. The main topic of this year's sector report will be “Vision 2050”. We will publish Turkey's forecasts for 2050 and our projections behind it.
