Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Assembly president Timur Erk, apart from sector’s accelerating export rate, emphasizing the raw material and intermediate chemicals input import boom said “For the chemicals sector in order to decrease its exterior dependence, our domestic raw materials and natural resources need to be used more as intermediate input.”   At the meeting, it was stated that number one destination of Turkish chemical exports was Iraq ($601 million), followed by Germany ($557 million) and Russia ($444 million). When looking at subgroups in the chemicals sector, the exports of plastic products rank first, with a figure of $3.2 billion which is followed by mineral fuels and oils in the second place where inorganic chemicals ranked as third.   Turkish Chemicals Industry Assembly President Timur Erk in his evaluation emphasized that for a developed Turkey, there is definitely a need for a developed chemicals industry. Erk reminded, as a sector which provides various raw materials and intermediate inputs for 35 other sectors, chemicals industry is the fundamental indicator of development.   Asserting chemicals industry as being one of the fastest growing sectors in Turkey with a rate of %7, Timur Erk added that it ranks third or fourth among all sectors in Turkey in terms of export level.   In his speech, Erk underlined that the Chemicals Strategy Paper, part of the state's Industry Strategy Paper, which aims to design action plans to improve Turkish industry, should be implemented as soon as possible. "Turkey should become an investment location for multinational chemical companies. We should improve the investment environment," he said.   -Chemicals industry subsectors were also evaluated   Through the meeting aside from the export numbers, chemicals industry subsectors within the scope of their growth rates were also evaluated. Turkey's leading glass manufacturer Sisecam Chemicals Group Vice President Gizep Sayın said domestic demand for sodium products is high. He added that they expect the Turkish sodium sector to have grown by around 3 percent in the past year.   Furthermore Cosmetics and Cleaning Products Industrialists Association Secretary General Vuranel Okay noted that the cosmetics and cleaning products sector, another subgroup of the chemicals sector, reached the total sales of 2009 in the first six months of 2010. Mentioning that the sector will grow between 5 and 8 percent in 2010.   Mustafa Yilmaz. the general manager of Aksa Akrilik, a Turkey-based acrylic fiber manufacturer, noted that the carbon fiber sector will grow by 100 percent in 2010.   Turkish Plastics Industry Association (PAGEV) General Secretary Barbaros Demirci said the Turkish plastics sector grew by 16 percent in the past year, according to data covering the period between January and September 2010.