TÜRKÇİMENTO managers participated at the Intercem Americas 2021 conference in the USA. At the conference, the situation in the global cement industry was discussed.
The event, that TÜRKÇİMENTO attended as sponsor and with a booth, took place in Miami, USA. Intercem 2021 has become a platform where cement manufacturers from all over the world come together. The conference was attended by the upper management of TÜRKÇİMENTO, the umbrella organization of the Turkish cement industry. Gökhan Bozkurt, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of TÜRKÇİMENTO, made a speech at the conference.
Bozkurt informed the participants about Turkey, one of the biggest business partners of the USA in the field of cement, and the Turkish economy. In his speech, Bozkurt stated that the Turkish economy started the year with an expectation of recovery in 2020 after the difficult 2018-2019 period and said: “The start of the pandemic at the end of the first quarter of the year has also affected Turkey. Many sectors in the country had to slow down or stop their activities. Despite this, the Turkish economy continued its growth trend in 2020-2021.” Bozkurt pointed out that another positive indicator of the Turkish economy is its strong export capability and said: “According to the data announced by the Ministry of Commerce, our exports in September of 2021 amounted to 20 billion 783 million dollars. This is the all-time highest figure achieved for Turkey’s export. The export for the January-September period amounted to 160 billion 979 million dollars. Which is an increase of 36% compared to the same period of the previous year.”
Bozkurt, who also shared the figures of the Turkish cement sector, said that there are 76 cement factories operating in Turkey, that the annual production capacity of these factories is approximately 115 million tons, and that the capacity utilization rate of the factories is at 68 percent. Bozkurt also added that with its established production capacity, Turkey is the number 5 producer in the world and the number 1 producer in Europe in the cement sector.
“Turkey became the world’s second largest exporter in 2020” Bozkurt said that cement production in the sector in 2020 increased by 27 percent compared to the previous year, that it was 76.5 million ton, and that there was an increase of 23 percent in domestic sales and 37 percent in cement exports compared to the previous year. Bozkurt stated that with this increase, domestic sales amounted to 59.2 million tons and exports to 31.4 million tons. In addition, explaining that the domestic market turnover of the Turkish Cement industry for 2020 is approximately 1.7 billion
dollars, Bozkurt said that 17.2 thousand people were directly and about 50 thousand people were indirectly employed in the sector.
Gökhan Bozkurt pointed out that Turkey is successfully expanding its cement exports with its operational capabilities and port competencies. Bozkurt said: “Turkish cement manufacturers are establishing their own port infrastructures and by combining operational excellence with product quality, they have managed to keep the supply and logistics problems experienced during the pandemic period at a minimum.”
Underlining that the biggest white cement suppliers of the USA are Turkish cement manufacturers, Bozkurt said: “As the Turkish Cement industry, we place great importance not only on production but also on sustainability. In this regard, we are adapting to new technologies, and we are constantly making adjustments in our factories for low-carbon production.” Bozkurt explained that they have integrated systems such as the use of alternative fuels and waste heat recovery to contribute to the environment.
He stated that if they increase this rate to 50 percent, they will prevent petcoke imports worth approximately 550 million dollars.
Bozkurt mentioned that tires have an important place among alternative fuels and said: “We have prevented the emission of 865 thousand tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in the last 5 years with the use of expired tires.”
And he continued as follows: “Energy costs make up the biggest portion among our cost items. The unstoppable uptrend in energy markets and the high exchange rate in our country led to an increase of 78 percent in electricity, 301 percent in petroleum coke and 422 percent in imported coal in October in terms of TL, compared to the same month of the previous year.”
Bozkurt explained that concrete road applications is another issue the cement sector places great importance on and emphasized that their aim is to ensure the widespread use of a concrete road network.
