Limak Kurtalan Cement Factory is a unique factory that could set an example for the entire Turkey. In this news, we will not talk about the technologic characteristics of the factory (the latest technologies were used and full efficiency was already achieved years ago), but will focus on how the factory has turned into a green paradise.
After you land in Batman Airport and continue driving towards Siirt City, you travel on a green lowland in the spring months. Everywhere is green due to the effects of the season. However, you can’t see any trees along the road. There are only small hills on the lowland without any trees.
After you finish half-an-hour car travel, you cross a hill and reach Kurtalan District in Siirt. When you turn your head towards the left side of the district, you will finally see the trees… It is like an oasis in the middle of the desert. It is also like a beautiful place in the paradise. The green trees create a smile on your face. You become happy to see the trees ultimately. When you get closer to them, you will be much more surprised. A huge factory is located right in the middle of this sea of trees. What is more, it is a cement factory. Here is Kurtalan Cement Factory.
When you entered the factory, you would be surprised. You could see pine trees planted along the entrance of the factory. When you continue touring around the factory, you would be much more surprised because it has almost become a forest of fruit trees. All fruit trees that can grow in this region were planted here, such as Siirt pistachio, apple, cherry, plum, vineyards etc.
The factory that employs 200 workers has approximately 200 thousand trees. They insistently continue to plant trees every year.
Kürşat Turna, General Manager of Kurtalan Cement Factory, is proudly declaring that the Group plants 1000 trees every year and will continue to plant more trees in the next years.
Gültekin Aksüyek, who was acting as Limak Board Member and CEO at the time of privatization of Liman Cement Factory, was appointed as the General Manager of the company. He dedicated himself to planting trees within and around the factory in addition to cement production operations. The number of trees which Gültekin Aksüyek loves all of them like his children, has progressively increased every year. When he was appointed to Ankara as CEO, the other people that assumed his responsibilities instead of him have embraced and maintained his legacy.
Limak Group is a giant today. The contributions of the Group to the economy, its role as one of the leading companies in the cement sector and the importance that the Group attaches to technology are very well known within the entire sector.
Furthermore, the importance that Limak Group attaches to the environment is higher than the other areas. The trees grow along with the Group. We wish that it will represent a good example for all other sectors. As we underlined in the title of our news, we wish all factories would be like this factory…
Limak Kurtalan Cement Factory:
Kurtalan Cement Factory was founded in Kurtalan District of Siirt City for the purposes of meeting the cement needs in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolian Region, making exports to the neighboring countries and making contributions to the national and regional economies.
The factory, whose foundation was laid in the mid-1976, was commissioned at the end of 1984 and made its first cement sale in 1985.
While Siirt Kurtalan Çimento Sanayi Ticaret A.Ş. was a government enterprise, it was privatized in 1998 by block sale method. Following the privatization, the enterprise joined Limak Group in 2000.
With the new investments made, the annual clinker production capacity has increased to 760.000 tons/year and cement production capacity has increased to 1.140.000 tons/ year. With the additional investments made, the loading capacity of the cement packaging unit has been increased from 200 tons/hour to 280 tons/hour.
In 2008, Limak Kurtalan Çimento was re-structured under the name of Limak Çimento Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. Ergani, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Bitlis and Derik Cement Factories of the Group currently continue their operations as branches affiliated to the Group.