The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange. An archive photo
MINSK, 5 March (BelTA) – In 2023 Turkish companies increased the volume of their deals at the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) by 2.7 times. Meanwhile, the number of Turkish companies, which are accredited for exchange trade, rose from 32 in 2022 to 70 in 2023. The figures were mentioned by Aleksandr Bashliy, Head of Foreign Relations at BUCE, during a Belarusian-Turkish business forum, BelTA has learned. The forum was organized by Belarus’ National Marketing Center together with the Turkish Business People Association (ASRIAD).
In 2023 Turkish commercial entities actively operated at the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange as buyers. Woodworking industry products and scrap metal were the most popular commodities. They accounted for over 90% of the exchange trade between Belarus and Türkiye in 2023. Import accounted for only about 2% of the total deal value. The imports were mainly deliveries of viscose yarn to Belarusian textile industry enterprises. According to Aleksandr Bashliy, this is why expanding the range of products covered by Belarus-Türkiye exchange trade is the top-priority task now. It will encourage Turkish companies operating in agriculture, mechanical engineering, and chemical industries to work via BUCE. In turn, it will help increase Belarus-Türkiye exchange trade.
Aleksandr Bashliy said: “At present the structure of deals closed by Turkish companies is not very well diversified from the point of view of products. Essentially they trade in sawn timber, scrap metal, and textile raw materials. Naturally it is not sufficient for fully revealing the potential of exchange trade between our countries. This is why we are interested in getting businesses from other industries to come to operate via BUCE. For instance, in agriculture it is advisable to put efforts into selling Belarusian vegetable oils to Türkiye as well as milk powder, beetroot pulp, and molasses. If we talk about import, Belarus could definitely use parts and components for automobiles, machines, and vehicles as well as industrial equipment. By the way, in 2022 our section of industrial and consumer goods already facilitated a deal to buy a Turkish line for bottling milk and dairy products. The manufacturer of this equipment acted as the seller.”
During B2B negotiations held as part of the Belarusian-Turkish business forum agreements were reached on the BUCE accreditation of Turkish importers of meat products and products resulting from processing oil-bearing crops. Apart from that, vendors of replacement parts for construction machines, sanitary ware, and polymer materials expressed interest in participation in exchange trade.
