TÜRKÇİMENTO Chairman of the Board, Fatih Yücelik, said that despite the significant increases in the main cost input sof the cement industry, it continues to support the country’s economy by providing the cheapest cement in the world.
Fatih Yücelik, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TÜRKÇİMENTO, the umbrella union of the cement industry, stated that there has been significant increases in the main cost inputs of the cement industry, especially in the last year: “As cement producers, we have become unable to meet our production costs as a result of the increase in the exchange rate. For example, the price of the most important cost item for the industry, petrocoke, has risen from the $50-60 band to the $140-$150 band in the last year.”
Reminding that cement is a strategic product for the national economy, Yücelik said: “Cement is a strategic product for the national economy. Turkey is the country with the cheapest cement price in the world. On the other hand, the argument that cement prices cause a high increase in housing prices does not reflect the truth. According to the report prepared by METU, the share of cement in the material cost of the first class building, excluding the land, varies between 1.7% and 3.2%. Despite its very low share in housing costs, we consider it unfair that the cement industry is portrayed as the cause of housing price increases. Turkey’s cement consumption decreased by 11% in 2018 and 29% in 2019, shrinking for the first time in its history for two consecutive years. At the end of 2020, nearly 40 million tons of surplus capacity emerged. The contraction in domestic consumption during this period led our companies to exports.”
Necessary contacts have been established
Stating that the Turkish cement industry will continue to operate in parallel with the free market conditions and support the countrys economy as always, Yücelik said: “The increase in imported inputs affected the cement industry costs as well as in all industry sectors. We have established the necessary contacts with the public for this purpose. We have evaluated with all our stakeholders the maximum benefit for our country in terms of both domestic market dynamics and increasing export opportunities during the expected global recovery period after the pandemic. For this reason, we believe that it is not right to make any further statements.”