Kamil Gökhan BOZKURT
CEO
Nuh Cement Group
The fluctuation seen in the global risk appetite had a negative trend in 2016, and fund outflows were experienced in developing countries. Also the developments such as the coup attempt in Turkey, as well as geopolitical risks and rating changes caused an increase in our national risk premium. The second half of 2016 in particular was a very difficult period for the whole national economy. Unfortunately, 2017 will also be affected by the facts that the current deficit has increased, the economy could not achieve its targeted growth rate, and that we could not reach the targeted inflation rates.
When we take a look at the dynamics of the Turkish housing sector, we see that our country got through the social and economical problems and regathered its strength in such a fast way that no other country could. Although the construction sector is affected by the developments seen both at home and abroad, it progresses towards having a corporate structure thanks to the scale economy offered by the fact that it reached a certain importance. The cement sector has always been a growing and rising sector in our country thanks to urban transformation and infrastructure projects, as well as the government’s policy in support of construction activities. Although new actors and new capacity increases will raise the competition in the cement sector in the next three years, the domestic demand for cement will increase in the upcoming years with the government making decisions to support the construction sector activities. We expect the cement sector to maintain its attraction in the eyes of investors. In the upcoming years, the growth in Turkey’s cement demand may be less compared to previous years. However, this does not mean that the cement sector is not an attractive sector anymore. We expect the average growth of the domestic cement consumption to range between 3-5% in the next five years.
Despite the difficulties experienced by our country, Nuh Çimento Group managed to leave behind yet another year during which it took firm steps towards the future for a sustainable growth with the help of its experience of 50 years. At Nuh Çimento, we hope that we will continue our business by maintaining our increasing profitability and strong financial structure. We think that 2017 will be a difficult year as was the case with the second half of 2016. 2017 will be a year when we will have to protect ourselves from exchange risks, ensure financial management with cost inflation, and take notice of risks that may arise from debt collections. While protecting ourselves from financial effects, we also aim to add to our existing strength through our new investments and projects and become the most important actor in the market.
