Official data indicate that the value of Saudi Arabia's imports from Turkey increased in February compared to the previous month;
But it remained much lower than last year after an unofficial boycott from the Kingdom, and data from the Saudi General Authority for Statistics showed today, Sunday, that imports from Turkey amounted to 24.5 million riyals (6.53 million dollars) in February, up from 14.1 million riyals a month ago. ;
But it remains down by 98% year-on-year.
Saudi Arabia has never publicly acknowledged a boycott of Turkish goods;
But Saudi businessmen adopted the move last year in response to what they described as hostility on the part of Ankara, as relations between the two countries were disrupted in 2018 after the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Some Turkish exporters talked about commodity paths as a bypass solution, according to what exporters and traders told Reuters (Reuters). Turkey raised the issue last month during a meeting of the Goods Council of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, and Turkey fell to 67th in terms of exports to the Kingdom, from the 11th place. In February last year, according to data that showed China was still in the lead.
The authority said that the total value of Saudi exports rose 3% on an annual basis in February thanks to non-oil exports, and exports amounted to 65.8 billion riyals, up from 63.8 billion in February 2020. However, oil exports fell by 0.7 billion riyals, equivalent to 1.4%, in the same period compared to the previous month. Total Saudi exports fell by 6.2 billion riyals, or 8.6%. (One dollar = 3.7507 Saudi riyals).