Assess the competitiveness of production in Türkiye for a specific product and destination market. When production costs rise faster than foreign-currency revenue, an unchanged export price leaves less profit. That alone does not establish that every Turkish manufacturer is losing to an overseas competitor.
Why the dollar exchange rate is not enough
The Central Bank of Türkiye calculates a real effective exchange rate using trading partners’ currencies and relative prices. This provides macroeconomic context. An order decision still requires company-level costing: material inputs, productivity, capacity utilisation and sales terms differ between manufacturers.
Comparing wage growth with currency movements can mislead unless the start and end dates match. A rise in an employee’s wage is also different from an increase in labour cost per unit. Output, rejects and downtime affect the result.
Case: a repeat order at the previous price
Case: an overseas buyer asks for another shipment at the previous euro price. The manufacturer buys some inputs in dollars and pays wages and rent in lira. Simply converting the old cost estimate at today’s exchange rate could miss changed purchase prices and costs incurred before production actually takes place.
Before accepting, build a cost estimate for the production period. For each major input, record its currency, supplier price, quote validity, payment date and consumption per saleable unit. Show packaging, rejects, changeovers and costs triggered specifically by this batch separately.
Compare equivalent offers
Compare the same specification, quality, batch size, delivery timing and payment terms. A lower factory price may not mean a lower cost to the buyer if minimum quantities, inspection or warranty terms differ. Equally, proximity to the customer does not justify any price premium.
Separate the additional costs of the order from allocated fixed overhead. A batch may contribute towards rent and administration while its price remains insufficient to sustain the business overall. Falling capacity utilisation can increase fixed cost per unit even when tariffs and salaries have not changed.
Checks before confirming a price
- Recalculate the order using confirmed purchase prices and realistic production output.
- Show the effects of currency movements, input prices and capacity utilisation separately. Do not assume that future lira depreciation will improve the economics.
- Agree quote validity and any repricing terms if the buyer changes volume or postpones production.
- Check the funding required before customer payment. A profitable batch can still require financing for procurement and production.
If the price fails this review, a different batch size, specification, deposit or production schedule may help. Agree each change with the buyer and recalculate. Expected subsidies, future equipment savings or cheaper borrowing should not conceal a loss on the current order.
A useful next step is to take one important export product and compare its last completed shipment with the new offer. Identify changes in selling price, material consumption, output and payment terms. This shows where negotiation could help and where the production process itself needs attention.
Sources and review date
Reviewed on 27 October 2026. Central Bank of Türkiye: real effective exchange rate definition. Bank for International Settlements: effective exchange rate methodology. These sources explain the macroeconomic indicator; the order review is a practical decision framework.