Turkish Industry Set for Take-Off

(India/Rubber Asia) Turkey’s rubber goods manufacturing industry is at a take-off stage thanks to the country’s economic liberalisation policy. The country has as many as 200 rubber goods manufacturing companies of which some are reputed exporters to Europe and the US. Mr. K Berat Oztimur, General Manager, Arsan Kaucuk, a market leader of rubberised pipe seals and bearings, spoke to Rubber Asia on the sidelines of the India Rubber Expo 2007. Selcuk Butun, Sales and Marketing Manager of the company, was also present.

Rubber goods manufacturing industry is flourishing in Turkey, especially after the economic liberalisation initiatives by the government. There are about 200 companies manufacturing rubber goods and at least 40 of them are of good repute. Construction industry is one of the largest consumers of rubber goods, mainly, pipe seals and bridge bearings. There are also a number of tyre companies in Turkey. The industry is, in fact, at a take-off stage and even small companies have started realising the importance of quality and are going in for the best technology.

One major problem is the poor technology still being used by a majority of the companies. “Out of the 200 and odd manufacturing units hardly 40 have good technology. It is difficult to compete in the world market without adhering to the European and the US quality standards. Companies like ours gained the market leadership and succeeded in our export forays mainly because we have good technical tie-ups with reputed European companies in the field,” K Berat Oztimur, commented, adding: “Many are yet to go in for such ties ups. However, there is a growing awareness about the need to improve quality by adopting world-class technology.”

Arsan Kaucuk specialises in pipe seals and bridge bearings and exports to as many as 40 countries including India, focusing on Europe and the US. “We are mainly exporting bridge bearings to Europe and pipe seals to the US. We are also suppliers to leading automobile companies. Sixty to 70 per cent of our products are being exported while 30 to 40 per cent is marketed internally,” K Berat Oztimur told Rubber Asia.