Cansu Açık
Seza Çimento International Relations and Foreign Trade Director Graduate Engineer Architect
How did the cement sector spend the year 2022 in local, regional and global terms?
We have left behind a year in which the world went through a difficult period economically, there were signs of recession, especially in Europe, and the upward trend in inflation was experienced on a global scale. In fact, although the European markets started the year well, there was a decline between 1.2 and 2.4 in this market due to the Russia-Ukraine War. Although the end-of-year figures have not yet been announced, a 5.6 percent decline is also expected in the global cement sector for 2022.
This global picture has also affected the domestic market. The total cement production of the members of TÜRKÇİMENTO, of which we are also a member as Seza Çimento, in the first 9 months of 2022 fell by 8.5 percent compared to the same period last year. In the same period, as a result of the decreasing consumption in the country, a decrease of 12.8 percent was recorded in sales in the domestic market. If we evaluate it regionally, the biggest decrease in domestic market sales was experienced in the Eastern Anatolia Region where our factory is located. Accordingly, in the first nine months of 2022, domestic sales in cement fell by 33.4 percent compared to the previous year. On the other hand, although we have achieved an increase in our export revenues due to cement, there is a decrease in our foreign exchange input due to the decline in clinker exports approaching 30 percent.
What sector-specific issues do you foresee will be on the agenda for the year 2023? What are your general predictions for this year?
Although there is an expectation of a 0.3 percent growth in the cement sector on a global scale this year, it is predicted that the downward trend may continue in Europe. It seems that the increase in commodity prices, especially energy, due to the Russian-Ukrainian war will continue to affect the sector. Therefore, we expect a similar picture to emerge in exports, especially in the European market, like the one in the last year. We think that there will be an increase in the domestic market with the effect of the Social Housing Project. Urban transformation projects, which are of critical importance for our country in the earthquake zone, will also increase the mobility of both our company and our sector in the domestic market.
What will be your projects and strategies in general for 2023 and beyond?
As a company that adopts and implements the production economy-based, export-based model, we will continue to increase our export capacity and market network this year and in the upcoming period. We are currently exporting to 21 countries in a wide geography, especially in South America, West Africa and the Middle East. In the European market, which is one of our most important targets, we plan to increase our sales in Belgium and Germany, which we started exporting in 2022. The USA is at the forefront of our 2023 target markets. We aim to finalize the year with 100 percent growth by steadily increasing our domestic share along with exports. We will continue our renewable energy investments, which we have accelerated our investments as of 2021, this year as well. Currently, we meet 26.1% of our total electricity consumption from renewable energy. We will increase this rate with the new solar power plants we plan to establish this year. We are also working on energy storage systems. In addition, we plan to spread the technologies and software we use in areas such as purchasing, internal communication and production to all our processes by making them a part of our culture. Thus, while making the lives of our employees easier, we will also make our business model more efficient.