Fabric Ranks First in Southeastern Anatolia's Textile Exports

Southeastern Anatolia exported 593 thousand 630 tons of textile products to 187 countries in January-September 2026. These sales generated 2 billion 716 million 887 thousand dollars. Exports rose 1.8 percent by volume and 8 percent by value.

Fabric, yarn and fiber

Among sub-product groups, fabric, with a 26.9 percent share, rose 5.3 percent to 731 million 861 thousand dollars and ranked first. Yarn exports increased 9.8 percent to 680 million 798 thousand dollars, with a 25.1 percent share. The fiber group, with a 5.5 percent share, recorded 150 million 647 thousand dollars in sales.

Within fabrics, the highest exports were in non-woven fabrics, which rose 8.2 percent to 536 million 793 thousand dollars. Knitted fabric exports fell 18.3 percent to 111 million 618 thousand dollars. Woven fabrics came third with 83 million 449 thousand dollars.

In yarn, polyester yarn ranked first with 232 million 78 thousand dollars, though exports of this product fell 1 percent. Other yarns rose 22.8 percent to 221 million 13 thousand dollars, and cotton yarn rose 26.8 percent to 172 million 190 thousand dollars. Acrylic yarn exports declined 20.7 percent to 55 million 517 thousand dollars.

Breakdown by country and province

Iraq was the top destination with 255 million 870 thousand dollars, up 2.1 percent. The United Kingdom was second with 238 million 267 thousand dollars, up 3.6 percent, and Syria was third with 202 million 109 thousand dollars, up 38.6 percent. Exports to Egypt rose 38.8 percent to 113 million 259 thousand dollars, to Germany 17 percent to 108 million 770 thousand dollars, to Bangladesh 79 percent to 63 million 768 thousand dollars, and to China 93.8 percent to 41 million 24 thousand dollars.

By province, Gaziantep's textile exports rose 6.2 percent to 1 billion 225 million 838 thousand dollars. Kahramanmaraş was second with 569 million 955 thousand dollars, down 4.9 percent. Şanlıurfa's exports rose 102.8 percent to 50 million 435 thousand dollars.

Comment from the sector

Mete Akcan, head of the Southeastern Anatolia Textile and Raw Materials Exporters' Association, said textile is a very important sector for the region. Akcan said the sector will need to comply with the European Green Deal and carbon footprint regulations in the coming period.

Şu, bir gerçek, ihracat konusunda iyi bir tedarikçiyiz tekstil konusunda tüm dünyada. Bu da bizim elimizi güçlendiriyor. 2030'a da hazır olursak özellikle Avrupa konusunda yolumuzun kapalı olmadığını, açık olduğunu düşünüyorum. İleriki dönemlerde tekstil sektöründe sadece ürün üretmek yetmeyecek. Sürdürülebilir, ölçülebilir ve katma değerli ürünlerin üretiminin kıymetli olacağını düşünüyoruz.

Mete Akcan