Aegean Apparel Exporters Warn of Thin Order Books for 2027

Apparel exporters in Türkiye’s Aegean region are struggling to secure orders for 2027, according to industry leaders quoted by two Izmir publications in the last week of October. Çağlar Bağcı, chair of the Aegean Ready-to-Wear and Apparel Exporters’ Association (EHKİB), told Ege’de Sonsöz that the sector is going through what he called the worst period in its 50-year history, and that a serious fall in Aegean apparel exports was expected for October.

Bağcı explained that the region had until recently outperformed the national trend: disruption around the Strait of Hormuz led large buyers to move some purchases from the Middle East to big Aegean manufacturers. That effect has now faded and the region’s exports are again moving in line with the rest of the country. He expects closures among small and medium-sized firms to rise, and said the currency-conversion support paid to exporters had fallen from around 3% to 1–1.5%, while euro–dollar parity and domestic inflation add to the pressure.

Speaking to Tek Referans, Fesih Demirer, a board member of the Aegean Region Chamber of Industry (EBSO), described a sharp slowdown in enquiries. During the chamber’s recent election campaign its team visited about 100 companies, and two of the three sewing workshops he saw were empty. “For the last 10 days our phones have not rung and no order emails have arrived,” he said of his own 500-employee company, adding that input costs were rising by 70% while the exchange rate rose by 20%. Bağcı told the same outlet that higher costs from the new year, including any minimum-wage increase, would make orders even harder to win.

National figures show the wider picture. According to Turkish Statistical Institute and Ministry of Trade data reported by Fibre2Fashion, Türkiye’s apparel exports fell 2.23% year on year to $12.044 billion in January–September 2026, and September shipments were down 4.43% at $1.377 billion.