:: Plast Avrasya İstanbul 2004 | Plast Eurasia Istanbul 2004 ::

Plastic Industry In Turkey

THE TURKISH PLASTICS INDUSTRY: RECORD BREAKING GROWTH!

Used to perform better than the national average even during bad economic times, the Turkish Plastics Industry is a breaking record one after another nowadays with the help of political stability and decrease in the chronic high inflation.

Despite the Iraqi crisis, the industry managed to grow 10% last year compared to 2002. The growth continued and reached 12% in the first part of this year. Commodity plastics imports climbed 21% in 2003 and 32.5% in the first half of this year. With 3 Million Tones total plastics processed Turkey is the 6th biggest in Europe following Spain. The current per capita consumption value of 44 kgs is already above the world average, but compared with 100kgs, the average level of developed nations, there is a lot of room for sustainable further growth. If Turkey can manage to keep the same pace, it will easily become the 3rd largest plastic processor in Europe and Eurasia by 2010.

Taking the advantage of being late starters, Turkish processors Apply state of the art processing technologies. The products are not only consumed nationwide but also exported in increasing quantities both directly and indirectly as OEM equipment components, due to the shrinkage of the domestic market. Among finished and semi finished goods, processing machinery, dies and moulds, as well as additives and compounds are well on demand in the neighboring nations.

The Turkish Plastic Industry is going to become an important player in the region. While the existing and planned gas and crude oil pipelines are transforming the country into an energy terminal the industry will also bridge the gap between the recent major petrochemical investments and on its east and the large-scale markets on its west.

The industry houses more than 6 thousand small to medium scale companies which employ about 160 thousand people. The major sub segments are packaging and construction materials. The increased exports and changes in the consumption behavior of the population resulted in a rapid growth of the packaging industry in Turkey. On the other hand, automotive and appliance industries – major users of plastic components – are rapidly expanding with exports and substantial new investments are realized in these sectors. Turkey already ranks second in synthetic fibers and third in PVC profiles production capacities in Europe and has also a very significant BOPP manufacturing industry.

The commodity polymers (PE, PP, PVC, PS) constitute the majority of the consumption.
PE is used for packaging films, greenhouse films, irrigation pipes, canisters, containers and household items. Highly demanded PP finds its uses in carpet yarns, bigbags, woven sacks, oriented films, sanitary piping and household items. PVC is used for profiles, claddings, pipes, packaging films, and artificial leather. Solid and expanded PS is preferred for packaging insulation and appliances. There is a double-digit growth both for PET in bottles and for engineering plastics in electrical and automotive applications.

The packaging industry is one of the leaders in plastic consumption. Plastic materials constitute one third of all materials used for packaging by value, which corresponds to just 15% by weight. The technological developments in the plastic processing over the last ten years resulted in an average weight decrease of 28% per unit packing. The Turkish packaging industry produces oriented films, stretch films, shrink films, pallet covers, sacks bags, big-bags, woven sacks, yarns, thermoformed containers for food and beverages, bottles for carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, industrial containers, bottles for detergents and cosmetics, foamed containers for food and foamed packaging forms among others.

Turkish construction materials industry is also a major plastic consumer. Strong, durable, low maintenance and corrosion resistant plastic products are preferred for applications like window and door profiles, drainage and supply pipes, insulation, interior furnishings, water tanks, roof and exterior claddings.

Greenhouse films, mulch films and irrigation pipes are the major plastic applications in the Turkish agricultural industry.

Television sets, refrigerators, washing machines, computers as well as fiber optic cables and power distribution cables are examples of plastic use in the electrical and electronics industry. The ease of formability, low density, electrical insulation properties and flame retardant modifications make plastics indispensible for this industry.

Their lightweight, corrosion resistance and formability make plastics also ideal materials for automotive and transport industries and enable car manufacturers to reduce exhaust emissions. The rapid growth of this industry in Turkey during the recent years has resulted in an increased demand for suitable plastics.

Turkey is one of the leading countries for textile products. Both synthetic fibers and cloths are produced and exported in large scale. Acrylic, polyester, polyamide and polypropylene are the major materials used in by these industries. The shoe industry is also a major producer and exporter where PVC, EVA, TPE and PUR are processed into shoe soles.

Turkish plastics industry is showing an increasing trend in exports thanks to its geographical location on the crossroads of Europe and Asia. The direct exports of finished and semi finished plastics good from Turkey have reach 1 Billion USD, taking the largest shares in chemical exports. The main plastic products exported are all kind of packaging, pipes and tubes, plastic furniture, textiles, footwear, table and kitchenware and OEM parts. Appliances and automotive sectors experience double-digit growth in their exports. When the indirect exports in the form of OEM components and packaging for other goods are taken into account the exports top 3 Billion USD. Turkish plastics products are exported to 124 countries all over the world. Main markets are EU, CIS, Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East.

The industry meets annually in Istanbul during the International Plastics and Rubber Exhibition co-organized by PAGEV, the Turkish Plastics Association and TUYAP. Being the biggest plastics event in the region this exhibition attracks growing interest from international visitors. As a result the exhibition has been renamed as PLAST EURASIA ISTANBUL and will take place between 1-5 December this year. On a space covering 20 thousand sqm local and international exhibitors will display plastic processing machinery and materials, dies and moulds, plastic products, raw materials and additives, rubber technology and products, control systems, hydraulic and pneumatic equipment, auxiliary equipment and packaging machinery.

Prepared by

PAGEV
Turkish Plastic Industry Association
2004

Sources: National Statistics Institute, Export Development Center of Turkey, Chemorbis, PETKIM, TUPRAS, ASD, BESD, OSD, IMSAD, BEYSAD, TAYSAD, TESID, EuPC, PlasticsEurope, CIPAD, Assocomaplast

For more information, please contact PAGEV.

e-mail : pagev@pagev.org.tr
fax: +90 212 624 4926
tel: +90 212 425 1313 (3 lines)