Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria will sign a joint agreement in January 2024 to counter the mine threat in the Black Sea, Turkish National Defense Minister Yashar Güler said, TRTHaber reported on Saturday, December 16.
“Within the framework of the Trilateral Initiative, launched under the leadership of our country against the mine threat in the Black Sea, on November 22-23, we held the third round of the meeting of the Task Force on Mine Action in the Black Sea, hosted by our ministry. We are also planning to hold a signing ceremony in Istanbul on January 11, 2024, with the participation of the defense ministers of the three countries,” said Yasar Güler.
The minister emphasized that Turkey responsibly and impartially implements the Montreux Straits Convention, which ensures balance in the Black Sea, and is determined to continue to do so.
Ukraine and Turkey will ratify the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the near future, and after the ratification procedure is completed, the document will enter into force in early 2024, the Economy Ministry said on Wednesday following a meeting between First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and the new Turkish Ambassador Mustafa Levent Bilgen the day before.
“The free trade agreement will also simplify logistics issues, promote the development of Ukrainian business in wartime, and open new prospects in Ukraine for our partners from Turkey,” Svyrydenko was quoted as saying in a press release.
She added that a working group on grain will be set up to discuss global and bilateral trade in this market.
“Ukraine highly appreciates Turkey’s participation in protecting the grain export initiative, which is an important factor in ensuring global food security,” the First Deputy Prime Minister said.
It is noted that the parties are also ready for a constructive dialogue on expanding economic cooperation, in particular, the creation of joint projects in priority sectors of the economy. Strategically important sectors for restoring and attracting private investment are defense, agricultural production and processing, renewable energy, gas production and storage, green metallurgy, environmentally friendly transport, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals.
Svyrydenko added that Ukrainian entrepreneurs are ready to establish joint business with international partners, so the government is using every opportunity to attract additional resources, including for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.
“Humanitarian demining is another important area. We need heavy demining vehicles, training for sappers, everything that will help us clear our land as soon as possible. We are open for cooperation and encourage international business to enter Ukraine,” the First Deputy Prime Minister said.
As reported, following 12 rounds of negotiations and a series of expert consultations in 2011-2022, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet Mush signed an FTA between the two countries in Kyiv on February 3, 2022. The document will enter into force after ratification by the parliaments of both countries and the exchange of instruments of ratification.
Inflation in Turkey accelerated for the second consecutive month in August and reached an eight-month high due to tax hikes, a weaker lira and rising food prices.
Consumer prices increased by 58.9% year-on-year, compared to a 47.8% rise in July, according to the country’s statistical institute (Turkstat).
Analysts surveyed by Trading Economics had predicted a more moderate acceleration of inflation, to 55.9%.
Food prices jumped 72.9%, the highest rise in eight months. In July, they rose by 60.7%.
Utilities went up by 25% last month (19.3% in July), transportation by 70.2% (43.4%), and medical services by 77.6% (75.9%). The growth in the cost of furniture and household appliances accelerated to 58.9% from 50.1%.
Core inflation, which excludes the cost of food, energy, tobacco products and gold, was 64.9% in August, compared to 56.1% a month earlier, Turkstat reports.
Meanwhile, monthly consumer price growth slowed to 9.1% in August from 9.5% in July. The July figure was the highest since December 2021.
The Central Bank of Turkey expects inflation to be 58% in 2023, 33% in 2024, and 15% in 2025.
The Turkish national currency is trading at around 26.77 lira per $1 on Monday, compared to 26.73 lira at the close of the previous session. The Turkish stock index BIST 100 has risen by 1% since the market opened.
Earlier, the Club of Experts project analyzed the state of the Turkish economy before the elections, see more here
Mining company Ferrexpo with assets in Ukraine in January-June this year due to the blockage of sea ports by Russia was able to supply pellets only to European countries and Turkey.
According to the semi-annual report of the company on Wednesday, Ferrexpo in the first half of the year-2023 all 100% of the realized products supplied to Europe, including Turkey, while in January-June-2022 this share was 92%, in the first half of the year-2022 – 79%.
Earlier it was noted that in H1-2022 the company increased the share of sales to Europe, including Turkey to 79% (in IH-2021 – 60%), Northeast Asia – to 5% (8%). Deliveries to the Middle East and North Africa were absent at that period (2%), as well as to North America (2%). Meanwhile, sales to Southeast Asia (SEA), including China, fell to 16% from 29%.
According to the report, the group was mainly limited to exports to Europe either by rail or inland waterways via the Danube River in the current year. It produced 1.967 million tons of pellets, operating one to two of four pelletizing lines, each capable of producing about 3 to 3.5 million tons of pellets per year, depending on the product types produced.
As at the end of July, the group operates one pelletizing line to reduce existing product inventories.
C1 production cost in H1-2023 was $71/tonne, down from H1-2022 ($85/tonne) due to the hryvnia devaluation in H2-2022 and lower prices for some consumables and the positive effect of energy savings. At the same time, iron ore prices in H1-2023 on the global market decreased by 5%, the outlook for the third quarter is slightly worse due to weak demand in Asia and increased iron ore supplies from Brazil and Australia.
Total selling and distribution costs in H1 2023 were $74 million (H1-22 – $147 million), mainly due to lower shipping volumes in the period due to the closure of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports in February 2022 and higher alternative freight costs that followed access to European customers. C3 freight rates declined 26% year-on-year to average $20/tonne in 1H 2023 as a result of lower global energy prices and lack of demand from Brazilian miners.
It is also stated that previously the group’s maritime logistics routes represented the cheapest and most efficient way to deliver products to customers. However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the group has had to adapt and establish new logistics corridors and relationships with logistics service providers and port operators. These routes rely heavily on rail, where capacity is limited and demand is high, including from businesses and industries, and transportation by barge is also limited and costly.
“The Group continues to explore its logistics options and has made progress in reducing transportation time and improving efficiency where possible,” the report said.
It also reminds that rail tariffs in July-2022 increased by 70% for 20 types of cargo, even when the group uses its own railcars.
During the first six months of 2023, the average monthly iron ore price remained in the range of $100 – $200/tonne, royalties for iron ore mining are charged to the group at a rate of 5% in this period.
Ferrexpo is an iron ore company with assets in Ukraine.
Ferrexpo owns 100% of Poltava GOK PJSC, 100% of Yeristovskiy GOK LLC and 99.9% of Belanovskiy GOK LLC.
Turkey, as the NATO summit in Vilnius showed, will continue to be a strong partner of the alliance in addressing common security challenges, including the geographical expansion of the bloc, said Fahrettin Altun, head of the Turkish presidential administration’s communications department.
“Turkey is actively engaged in confronting emerging challenges by supporting NATO’s strategic orientation. In the future, Turkey will continue to be a staunch ally and a crucial partner in the alliance’s new initiatives,” he wrote in an article for Middle East Eye magazine.
He added: “Turkey believes that the expansion of the alliance is the key to lasting peace and stability in the world.”
The official clarified, however, that Turkey supports NATO’s geographical expansion “not against a specific country, but to turn the alliance into a comprehensive security organization that will help achieve stability.”
Alutn said that Turkey, which controls the geographic land bridge between East and West and the waterways to the Black Sea, “it is crucial to be in the Western camp.”
“Turkey’s long and deep commitment to NATO has protected Europe. Its continued engagement is vital to the security of the continent,” he wrote.
The official assured that “Ankara will continue to be NATO’s partner in addressing the alliance’s common challenges,” adding that this will be done “in accordance with its national security requirements.”
The world’s central banks, according to preliminary data, sold 27.4 tons of gold from international reserves in May 2023, the World Gold Council (WGC) estimated.
By comparison, sales totaled 69.4 tons in April, according to revised figures.
The largest state seller of gold in May was Turkey (62.8 tons). There were also reduced reserves in Uzbekistan (10.9 tons), Kazakhstan (2.4 tons) and Germany (1.8 tons).
They bought gold in reserves in Poland (19.9 tons), China (15.9 tons), Singapore (3.9 tons), Russia (3.1 tons), Iraq (2.3 tons), India (1.9 tons), the Czech Republic (1.8 tons) and Kyrgyzstan (1.5 tons).
