Turkish carpet exports top $2bn: logistics cap growth, plants hold the fix

According to Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) data, Turkish carpet exports reached about $2.017 billion in the first nine months of 2026, or 391.98 million square meters shipped to 186 countries and free zones. Machine-made carpets took the largest share at $1.56 billion, followed by tufted carpets at $352 million, handmade carpets at $92.2 million and kilims at $10.1 million.

The Americas led at $605.6 million, then the Middle East at $515 million and Europe at $332 million. By country, the US took $448 million (up 16.6%), Saudi Arabia $181.3 million (up 9.4%) and the UK $114.2 million (up 23.4%).

But İskender Kaplan, who chairs TİM's carpet sector board, said exports stayed at last year's level. Raw materials, logistics problems and rising transport costs, together with tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and the Russia–Ukraine war, held growth back, so the $3.5 billion target for the year was revised down.

A number worth pausing on: about $5 per square meter

Dividing value by area gives a rough average of $5.1 per square meter. At that margin, every defect, every meter of scrap and every claim from a distant market like the US hits profit directly, and freight becomes a large share of the price.

What the plant can't control, and what it can

A plant has no say over freight rates or regional tensions. It controls a lot inside its own walls:

• Weaving and cutting scrap: measuring scrap by machine and by size usually shows most of it comes from a few places.
• Quality before shipping: a clear AQL inspection for US and UK orders, because a return from there costs two shipments.
• Packing and loading: better rolling and packing to fit more meters per container lowers freight cost per meter directly.
• Yarn and raw materials: a deliberate safety stock for critical yarns instead of broad buying at every price spike.
• Production data: a simple ERP that links order, machine and lot makes the real cost per meter visible.

Growing markets reward consistency

Growth in the US, UK and Saudi Arabia shows demand for Turkish carpets is there. What wins the next order is on-time delivery and quality that doesn't change from lot to lot.

Takeaway: the sector held its ground in a hard year. The next step isn't necessarily selling more meters, but earning more on each one by cutting scrap, controlling quality and lowering freight per meter.