Saudi Arabia bans the import of Turkish products, petrochemical yet to be affected

It is reported that with effective 3 October 2020, Saudi Arabia officially moved to prohibit all the imports of Turkish products in the face of heightened political tension between the two countries. 

International shipping lines including Moller-Maersk A/S have warned its clients that cargo from Turkey to Saudi ports “will be subjected to possible import bans and/or slowed various customs clearance,” while transiting cargoes over land have been blocked. 

Saudi Arabia is the 15^th largest importer of Turkish products, with sales led by carpets, textiles, chemicals, grains, furniture, and steel.

At the time of this report, the Turkish government has yet to introduce any reciprocal action against Saudi Arabia, however, players growingly concern over the potential impact on the polyolefins market would the tension escalate. 

In 2019, Saudi Arabia was the largest exporter of HDPE, LLDPE, and homo-PP to Turkey, according to data from UN COMTRADE:

Turkey relies heavily on the import market for petrochemical products to meet its domestic demand. “At the moment, the export of Turkish end products has been affected. However, we expect the situation to be resolve soon. We are still able to move cargoes in Turkey at the moment, without any hurdle,” a Saudi Arabia producer said.

Would the situation persist, the demand for the homo-PP fiber used in carpet production might be negatively impacted.