Turkish industry has begun 2026 under significant strain. Port cargo volumes have suffered one of the steepest January declines seen in recent years, business daily Ekonomi has reported.

According to data from the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs, total cargo handled at Turkish ports fell 8.6% y/y in January, dropping from 48.6mn tonnes to 44.4mn tonnes. Import tonnage contracted by 11.3% y/y, while exports saw an even sharper decline of 17.1% y/y. Container throughput shrank by 6.6% y/y.

Academic Soner Esmer at Piri Reis University stressed the extraordinary nature of the January data, remarking that he had “never seen such a sharp downturn”.

He said that the 17.1% y/y drop in the export tonnage was consistent with the overall decline in Turkey’s export value, while the divergence between the import value and tonnage reflected a “value-volume decoupling”.

Esmer added that suppressed exchange rates and high production costs were eroding exporters’ competitiveness, slowing the pace of shipments through ports.

The sour economic news comes less than a week after Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek told Turkish media that doubts about his position and the political backing of Turkey’s economic programme no longer influence investor sentiment, with foreign interest in Turkey’s outlook and “strong story” rising.

Simsek is under pressure from Turkish business leaders for a faster loosening of Turkey’s monetary and fiscal policies, but remarking on investor sentiments he encounters at international meetings, he said: "Speculation about me, speculation about the future of the programme, and negative rhetoric about its political ownership no longer finds a response."

Turkish industry representatives were reported by Ekonomi as highlighting how the downturn was particularly pronounced in coal and fuel imports. Coal volumes alone fell by more than 2mn tonnes.

The slowdown in raw material inflows points to weakening activity in energy-intensive industries such as steel and heavy manufacturing.

Several experts described the figures to the economic and business publication as the most striking January data in recent memory, warning that the contraction in port tonnage could foreshadow deeper industrial losses.

The slump comes on the heels of a record-breaking 2025, when Turkish ports handled 553.2mn tonnes of cargo, the highest level registered in the country’s history.

Turkey Port Operators Association (Turklim) head Hamdi Ercelik said that the strong performance of last year contrasted sharply with the difficult start to 2026. He told Ekonomi: “Unfortunately, we did not begin the year well. The contraction in both exports and imports shows that we must remain cautious in the face of a global slowdown.”

Trade ministry figures revealed that in January, Turkey’s exports fell 3.9% y/y to $20.3bn, while imports edged up ever so slightly by 0.03% y/y to $28.7bn. As a result, the total official foreign trade volume declined 1.7% y/y to $49bn. The official trade deficit widened by 11.2% y/y to $8.4bn.