PLASFED President Ömer Karadeniz, who made evaluations regarding the industry's agenda on the Akşam Masası program broadcast on Ekotürk TV, stated that the plastics industry is positively differentiated in exports and emphasized that raw material investments should be increased and the industry should be supported more strongly.
PLASFED Chairman of the Board Ömer Karadeniz was a guest on the Akşam Masası program presented by Ahu Tanrıkulu on Ekotürk TV. The current state of the plastics industry, export performance, access to finance problems, and petrochemical investments were discussed in the program.
Stating that Turkey is going through a difficult global economic period, Karadeniz said that despite this, the chemical industry has shown a positive performance in exports. Drawing attention to the data of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), Karadeniz stated that while many sectors experienced a decline in exports in May, the chemical substances and products sector recorded a growth of 6.9 percent.
Emphasizing that the plastics industry is the locomotive of chemical exports, Karadeniz stated that the strategic importance of plastic products has been understood more clearly after the pandemic. Stating that plastics play a critical role in many areas from the health sector to the defense industry, Karadeniz said, "The majority of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry committees are directly or indirectly related to the plastics industry."
Expressing that one of the most important problems of the sector is raw material supply, Karadeniz said that only about 10 percent of the demand for plastic raw materials in Turkey can be met by domestic production. Stating that the sector is largely dependent on imported raw materials, Karadeniz emphasized that new petrochemical investments should be accelerated.
Touching upon the importance of the petrochemical investments planned in Ceyhan, Karadeniz stated that at least six new petrochemical plants of similar scale are needed to increase Turkey's current production capacity. Stating that Turkey has a strong infrastructure in plastic product manufacturing, Karadeniz said, "Reducing foreign dependency on raw materials will increase the competitiveness of the sector."
Touching on exchange rate policies as well, Karadeniz stated that the fact that the exchange rate increase remains behind inflation creates cost pressure on the exporter, and that the cost structure needs to be rebalanced in order to maintain competitiveness.
Sharing his expectations for June at the end of the program, Karadeniz expressed that they expect a more positive picture in production and exports following the calendar effects experienced in May, and stated that stronger data for the industry could be seen in the second half of the year.
This content has been translated using artificial intelligence technology.