NG Kütahya Seramik Board Chairman Erkan Gural said that because of coronavirus outbreak in China, the demands has shifted to Turkey and added “if we can take this opportunity, we can achieve a greater growth”.
NG Kütahya Seramik Board Chairman, also Turkey Young Business People Association Chairman Erkan Gural gave hope to business world and especially to the ceramics industry in a press conference recently held. Gural told that they see that start to shift to Europe and Turkey the demand in the ceramic due to the Corona virus outbreak in China in the trade fairs taking place in Las Vegas, USA and Valencia, Spain. Here is what Erkan Güral said in that meeting:
We survived the crisis
“We are happy to see that the depressed period is over. Positive acceleration started in the last quarter of 2019. Signaled that our work would be better in 2020. We removed the word crisis from our dictionary. We always have a plan B in “extraordinary periods”. As Kütahya Seramik, we maintained our current situation in the second half of 2018. We were affected by 20 percent and turned to export. This did not happen in a year. We have harvested what we have planted before. When we moved from 2018 to 2019, we increased exports by 56 percent. We adjusted our 2020 budget according to the increase of 42 percent, but I believe that we will exceed 50 percent. We do not have a closed kiln in Kütahya Seramik. We produce with a 100 percent capacity. Our production is 100 thousand per day, 36 million square meters per year. ”
400 million lira new investment
“Exchange rates are stable, interest rates are low, elections are not expected. There is an environment suitable for investment. We are planning a new ceramic factory investment. In 2015, we had a large facility on schedule. We manufacture large-scale innovative products in that factory. We are the first and only company to export to the People’s Republic of China. We are the one who exports the most ceramics to Spain with these innovative products. We export to 289 points in 79 countries. Export is a long term business. We owe the Ministry for its support in Turquality applications. As such practices increase, the contribution to exports will increase. We are a company that loves investment and cares about employment. For investment, it can not be a better place than Turkey with raw material resources and ports. All of our industrial investments are in Kütahya. Kütahya economy and regional economy will be affected by this development. With the new factory, we will employ 200 people, and their families and environment will affect several thousand people. A ceramic factory costs 250 million liras, with 400 million of operating capital. ”
Demand is shifting to Turkey because of the Corona Virus
We saw that the demand in ceramics started to shift to Europe and Turkey because of the corona virus outbreak in China in the ceramic fairs taking place in Las Vegas, USA and Valencia, Spain. We will see this more clearly at UNICERA. It’s a sad situation for humanity. I have not seen such a human drama so far. Let the production do not even maintain their daily lives. But the wheels of the economy are spinning. In Turkey we’ve got this opportunity. If we use the advantages of this, we can achieve a bigger growth. Due to the positive reflection of this epidemic on the ceramic industry, it can take a 30 percent market share on an annual basis. It can provide low capacity facilities to operate at full capacity. One of our most important advantages is that the USA started to apply customs tax to China and its commercial sanctions. The exit trend started with the application of customs tax at the end of 2019, and finally the virus also contributed.”
“Made in Turkey” should gain value
“Italy, Spain, Poland, Turkey. All of them are important ceramic producing countries. But our problem is that “Made in Turkey” is not as valuable as “Made in Italy”. We don’t have any technological deficiencies. However, where we are sold for 10 liras, they are sold for 30 liras. It is important to appreciate the “Made in Turkey” perception. We must invest in this perception. ”
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