'Black market' emerges to dodge unofficial Turkish-Saudi trade blockade: sources | Reuters
Some Turkish exporters are rerouting food, clothing and other goods to circumvent a months-long unofficial blockade by Saudi Arabia that has sent trade to record lows, exporters and traders said.
Production in nearby countries allows exporters to obtain customs documents and to ditch “Made in Turkey” product tags, allowing goods to enter the kingdom, exporters, traders and a diplomat told Reuters.
Riyadh has never formally acknowledged the boycott against Turkey, but last year top Saudi businessmen endorsed it as a response to what they called hostility by Ankara.
A review of official trade data shows that in the first two months of the year Turkey’s exports to Saudi Arabia plunged 93% annually to $38 million.
Exports of electronics, garments, jewellery and automotive goods were all down more than 90% from a year earlier, according to the Turkish Exports Assembly.
“A black market is now emerging where brokers take the Turkish goods to other ports and forge the documents so they appear to be coming from China or Europe for fees,” said one importer of building materials to Saudi Arabia, who requested anonymity.
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