Isparta Göller Bölgesi Çimento Sanayi ve Ticaret, or GÖLTAŞ, in Turkey’s southwestern province of Isparta, exported 75 percent of a total of 860,000 tons of cement to African countries last year.
Speaking to Anatolia news agency, Sertaç Bora Özyurt, finance manager in GÖLTAŞ, said cement companies are seeking foreign markets, as the cement production in Turkey is two times more than the total demand.
Noting that the construction sector has an increasing trend in African countries due to their development process, Özyurt said that for this reason they also directed their operations toward African countries.
“African countries constituted 75 percent of a total of 860,000 tons of exported cement last year,” Özyurt said. “Countries such as Egypt, Libya, Angola, Cameroon, Nigeria and Western African countries are using Turkish cement.”
Last year, 856,000 tons of cement was also sold on the domestic market, Özyurt said.
“Turkey needs a total of 45 million tons of cement in the domestic market, however the production totals 90 million tons, which means the production is two times higher than the total need,” he said. “For this reason, cement facilities are opening to foreign markets. African countries constitute a serious market for Turkey.”
Noting that Russia was a great market before, Özyurt said the Russian market has been negatively affected by the economic crisis. “On the other hand, African countries have expanded their market network especially in the last two years.”
The company’s expectations for this year are same as last year. According to Özyurt, the company’s export figures this year will appear close to last year’s.
GÖLTAŞ ranked as the 339th largest company in Turkey in annual sales, according to the company. Noting that the GÖLTAŞ was among the Turkey’s top largest 200 companies a short time ago, Özyurt said that due to the contraction experienced in the construction sector, the company dropped to 339th place. “However, as long as the construction sector begins to recover, GÖLTAŞ will return to the right place.”
Özyurt said GÖLTAŞ sometimes receives pleasing messages in this trade bridge with Africa, adding that the company recently received a message from Aydın Türkekul, a U.N. official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “He said in an e-mail that he saw GÖLTAŞ cement being used in Africa and it makes him proud.”
