Chemical Industry's 2019 Export Stars Announced

The chemical industry, whose vital importance was once again understood during the pandemic period, saw its 2019 export stars determined. The awards given by the Istanbul Chemical Substances and Products Exporters Association (İKMİB) each year to honor and encourage member companies for their export success have found their recipients this year as well. In the İKMİB Stars of Exports Award Ceremony, held online for the first time due to the pandemic, 140 companies that ranked in the top 5 across 28 categories were awarded. The chemical sector, a strategic sector that directly or indirectly touches many industries by producing raw materials, semi-finished products and goods, achieved a major success in 2019 by breaking a historic record with USD 20.6 billion in exports. The chemical sector, which accounted for 11.44% of Turkey's total exports, grew by 18.54% in 2019. İKMİB, representing approximately 7,000 exporting companies from many different subsectors ranging from plastics to cosmetics, pharmaceuticals to rubber, medical devices to paints and coatings, carried out more than 50% of Turkey's total chemical exports. [caption id="attachment_102752" align="aligncenter"] İKMİB Stars of Exports Award Ceremony[/caption] The export stars that played a major role in this success of the sector and realized the most chemical exports in 2019 have been identified. The fifth edition of the 2019 İKMİB Stars of Exports Award Ceremony was held online. The online award ceremony, organized by İKMİB for the first time, was broadcasted live from İKMİB's YouTube channel and website. The award ceremony, attended by Turkish Minister of Commerce Ruhsar Pekcan, Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) President İsmail Gülle and Istanbul Chemical Substances and Products Exporters Association (İKMİB) Board Chairman Adil Pelister, was moderated by Oylum Talu and took place on 7 July 2020. At the 2019 İKMİB Stars of Exports Award Ceremony, 140 companies that ranked in the top five across a total of 28 categories in the chemical sector's subsectors and product groups were announced as award recipients. The top three companies that were export champions in the chemical sector in 2019 were Socar Türkiye Rafineri ve Petrokimya, Ciner İç ve Dış Ticaret A.Ş. and Eti Maden İşletmeleri. Socar Türkiye Rafineri ve Petrokimya Vice Chairman Rıza Bozoklar, Eti Maden İşletmeleri General Manager Marketing and Sales Department Head Ömer Çatal and Ciner İç ve Dış Ticaret A.Ş. Glass and Chemicals Vice Chairman Mahmut Kurşun participated in the ceremony via video conference and delivered their thank you speeches.

Ruhsar Pekcan: "The chemical sector is one of the strategic sectors for our country"

Turkish Minister of Commerce Ruhsar Pekcan, speaking at the award ceremony organized by İKMİB, one of the important umbrella organizations of the chemical sector, said: "This award ceremony will also be the first award ceremony of exporter associations in the digital environment. Organizing such an award ceremony during the pandemic process will encourage us for the steps we will take in the future and our targets. It will also be a morale and motivation booster for the business world. The chemical sector is one of the strategic sectors for our country. We aim to attract more investment to Turkey in the chemical sector. Together with Europe, we have started the normalization process in our country. We managed this process very proactively. As the Ministry, we activated the contactless trade application to minimize the impact on the economy and trade. During this period, we worked in full coordination and harmony with all our Ministers under the leadership of our President. In this process, we gave a very good example of private sector and state cooperation and solidarity" he said. Noting that they have begun to receive positive signals regarding the return to normal in exports, Pekcan said: "In June, our exports increased by 35% compared to May. There is a 24% increase in our chemical exports compared to May. Hopefully, we expect this growth trend in all our sectors to increase much more rapidly and rise upwards. As the Ministry, we are more willing than ever to provide our support and work in cooperation. In the coming period, it would not be surprising if Turkey strengthens its position in global supply chains and participates more effectively. At this point, we expect and support our chemical sector to strengthen its position in global supply chains. We invite our sector to take advantage of the support we provide as the Ministry. In 2019, a total of 171 fairs in relation to the chemical sector were covered under fair support. 13 UR-GE projects are successfully continuing. 20 UR-GE projects have been completed. Under the Turqualite program, 22 companies from the chemical sector benefit from Turqualite support through 24 brands. 15 companies with 16 brands also benefit from our branding support. Under the leadership of our Ministry in the chemical sector, we organized sectoral trade delegations to 13 countries and provided 4,500 bilateral meetings together with purchasing delegations. We have also taken very serious steps on digitalization. One of the exporter associations closely following this was İKMİB. İKMİB conducted our first Virtual Trade Delegation to Latin America. I would also like to commend İKMİB management for organizing the first digital award ceremony and the first digital trade delegation."

İsmail Gülle: "The sector's target is above USD 20 billion"

Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) President İsmail Gülle, noting that the 2019 İKMİB Stars of Exports Award Ceremony, held for the first time in the digital environment, would serve as a beginning, stated that despite difficult conditions during the pandemic period, June export figures were at record levels and this result would herald new records. İsmail Gülle continued his words as follows: "The determination and commitment of exporters made the difficult easy and eliminated obstacles. The successful exam that our exporters gave under extraordinary circumstances is almost a sign of how bright the future of Turkish exports is. We have surpassed the pre-epidemic figures and have begun a performance beyond normal. Minister of Commerce Ruhsar Pekcan closely addressed every issue of the export family during this difficult period. The steps taken by our Ministry of Commerce for exports during the pandemic process will, I believe, form the infrastructure for future exports. I extend my gratitude to our Minister for his approach that prioritizes exports and his endless support to the export family." Noting that the chemical substances sector made serious contributions to export success, İsmail Gülle continued his remarks as follows: "In the month we entered the normalization process, our sector achieved USD 1.4 billion in exports with a 10.2% increase, saying 'in the new normal, beyond normal.' Our chemical substances sector became the sector that exported to the most countries in 2019. This shows that our exporters in the chemical substances sector have succeeded in diversifying markets. In 2019, our exports of chemical substances to 140 countries showed an increase. The architects of this success are among us today. I sincerely thank all our award-winning exporters for their outstanding efforts. It is in our hands to take this success further. In 163 different 6-digit HS code products in the chemical substances sector, our country's exporters hold competitive advantage. Having a competitive product range, the chemical substances sector's ability to reflect its strength in the field will be the key element that distinguishes the Turkish exporter from competitors. Even in a year when such a decline is experienced in global trade, our most important goal is to increase our sector's annual exports above USD 20 billion. We are confident that with the intense efforts of our exporters, the support of our government, our work as TİM and our association, we will achieve these successes."

Adil Pelister: "The Stars of Exports Awards are our pride, and holding our first digital award ceremony is also a source of special pride"

Istanbul Chemical Substances and Products Exporters Association (İKMİB) Board Chairman Adil Pelister, noting that they held the fifth edition of the İKMİB Stars of Exports Award Ceremony this year under conditions described as the new normal due to the pandemic, emphasized that the Stars of Exports Award Ceremony was the pride of İKMİB. Drawing attention to the fact that digital facilities gave them some firsts, Pelister said: "In May, we conducted our first digital trade delegation organization in Colombia. Again, holding our first digital award ceremony under the TİM umbrella is another source of pride. The first item on our election manifesto was digitalization. From that day to today, we have been part of the digital transformation with our Ministry of Commerce and TİM leadership, and we will continue to be. In 2019, we broke records both in total exports and in chemical exports at the sectoral level. Our total country exports reached USD 180.5 billion, and our total chemical sector exports grew by 18.5% compared to 2018, accounting for 11.4% of our country's total exports, reaching USD 20.6 billion. In 2019, as the chemical sector, we achieved a major success, completing the year in second place after the automotive sector. Besides products in our chemical sector, we provide raw materials and semi-finished goods to the other 27 sectors, contributing at least that much more. In 2019, despite many problems such as trade wars between the USA and China, Brexit, the Iran embargo, and the Syrian war, we still broke records. In addition to breaking export records in 2019, we carried out many activities such as our UR-GE delegations, international fair national participation organizations, purchasing delegations, and competitions supporting branding and R&D. We introduced our country and sector to all corners of the world, signed agreements, and sold our products to the world" he said.

"We continue our work to establish a Chemistry Technology Center as a first in Turkey"

Making an assessment regarding 2020, Pelister said: "In 2020, we aimed to achieve USD 23 billion in chemical sector exports and we had planned many organizations to reach this figure. However, due to the Corona Pandemic, an extraordinary situation affecting the entire world occurred and unfortunately continues to occur. Despite this turmoil, as the chemical sector, as of June 2020, we achieved USD 8 billion and 640 million in exports. Our exports recorded significant growth in June compared to previous months. We are fully confident that the positive atmosphere will continue to increase in the coming months and that we will reach the USD 20 billion figure from last year. At the same time, by facilitating access to financing, support continues for the real sector that wants to continue production and investment. For demonstrating the will to make many vital decisions quickly, I extend my gratitude to our esteemed President above all, our respected Minister of Commerce, all our valuable ministers, and our valued bureaucrats whose presence we always feel. Now, as a new world is being built, we must be able to produce and export high-technology and value-added products and shift to a scale economy model. At this point, we must reconsider real innovation and R&D support in this direction. As İKMİB, we will support this issue through our work to establish a "Chemistry Technology Center." In this center there will be: Accredited laboratories, digital libraries, startup areas, conference halls and digital solutions that meet the needs of our subsectors. In these aspects, such a center will be a first in Turkey. I would also like to extend my gratitude to our Minister of Commerce for supporting our initiative to establish a chemistry technology center" he stated.

"We are fully confident that we will return to the offensive in 2021"

Saying that the chemical sector will be Turkey's largest export sector before 2030, Pelister spoke as follows: "In the new digital age, producing at world standards based on high technology and seeing growth will continue to create great excitement in our sector. Due to the pandemic, I pray for mercy from God for the citizens we have lost, especially our health workers. We are fully confident that we will repair the damage to our economy through our trust in our sector and our country, that we will return to the offensive in 2021 and overcome these days. Because 'We Are Stronger Together.' I sincerely congratulate the shining stars of exports who have won awards by ranking."