Not Just Gas and Textiles – a Batch of Boilers and Plumbing Fixtures Sold for Export at the SCRMET
Last week at the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of Turkmenistan (SCRMET) was unusual in terms of the composition of trading lots. A total of 16 transactions were registered at the auction, and the total value of foreign exchange contracts exceeded $3,297,000.
In addition to the traditional raw materials sector – this time, Georgian entrepreneurs purchased liquefied gas from the state-owned Turkmennebit – the auction also featured a remarkable range of finished products.
Foreign buyers also included traders from companies in the UAE, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. Along with the usual textiles (denim, terry cloth, and calico), contracts included ceramic sanitary ware, heating boilers, denim tents, and cottonseed oil.
The inclusion of Turkmen boilers and plumbing fixtures in export contracts is telling. This indicates that local production is gradually expanding beyond the domestic market and beginning to compete in the finished household and construction goods segment at the regional level.
Last week, domestic businesses invested a total of 128,216,000 manats in raw materials for local production.
The main items in domestic demand were polypropylene from the Turkmennebit State Corporation, raw silk, cotton fiber, cotton yarn, and wheat flour.
