Ferdi Erdoğan, the chairman of the Association of Turkish Construction Material Producers (İMSAD), said that Saudi Arabian businesses were under pressure not to buy products made in Turkey. Saudi move came amid growing tensions between Ankara and Riyadh that now apparently spill on trade. Saudi state media reported that authorities have not restricted Turkish goods.
However, Saudi Arabia’s biggest supermarket chains earlier this week joined a social media campaign to boycott Turkish goods launched by some business leaders. Some supermarkets in Riyadh placed signs urging customers to avoid Turkish products. These supermarkets said they would no longer sell Turkish goods once the current stocks are sold off. On the other hand, some Saudi customers see that the boycott would limit their options.
Over the last month, #Turkish_Products_Boycott_Camapaign and #Boycott_Turkish_Products hashtags have been trending on social media platforms. Turkish exporters also said that they had been facing hurdles shipping products to the UAE after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said it would suspend diplomatic ties with the emirates following its relationship normalisation with Israel.
Turkish exports to Saudi Arabia stood at roughly $3.1 billion in 2019. So far this year, both Saudi and Turkish trade data have shown no unusual significant declines in the bilateral trade. By total import value, Turkey was Saudi Arabia’s 12th-largest trading partner in the second quarter of 2020. The latest trading data shows Saudi imports from Turkey increased from around $180 million in June to about $185 million in July.
