2023 Sector Assessment
Ali Karamustafaoğlu
Sales Director
Asil Kimya
As Asil Kimya, we had a good year and achieved our goals. While we continued to grow on a foreign currency basis, we expanded our product groups. We continue to grow in our sales team. We are a team of about 20 people, with sales support and after-sales services in our team.
Continuing our regional and sectoral structuring, we started to serve our customers in new regions and new sectors in 2022. The year 2023 may display a more stable image especially in the first two quarters of the year due to the volatility and recession expectation in the world and the election atmosphere in our country.
However, due to the dynamics of our country, our economy has the ability to react
very quickly to negativities and to recover quickly. Therefore, I think that the growth will continue in the second half of the year.
In 2022, the chemical industry achieved a great success, surpassing the automobile industry in exports, and rose to the 1st place. While we congratulate all the companies
that contributed to this success, we should know that there is still a long way to go. If we can invest more in areas with high added value, our success in this area will accelerate and become sustainable.
As Asil Kimya, we continue to supply new products in 2023. As a result of our cooperation with Nouryon, we will start the supply of dispersing and levelling agents used in the paint industry with the Berol brand.
We think that our products will attract great interest in this area, both in terms of quality and price. In addition, we will start importing azo pigments as a result of our work with
Han Color, one of the largest organic pigment manufacturer in China.
We started to supply our first products as a direct importer of chlorine paraffin, air entraining agents, mbs and acrylic strength agents. We think that we will accelerate in this area and reach significant tonnages during the year.
We are waiting for our first orders for castor oil and Moca. We will be one of the important
actors in the sector in these product groups. One of our goals is to increase our infrastructural power. By increasing the capacity of our central warehouse in Tuzla, we
will increase our closed area to 8.000 m2 within the year.
We will provide a better service to our customers by increasing our operational strength. In 2023, we plan to increase our turnover in foreign currency by 40%. We have planned the necessary sub-openings for this to happen. I wish a new year in which we, our industry and
our country can achieve their goals.
Burcu Gezegen Özdemir
Managing Director
Azelis Türkiye
Global growth rate has lost momentum in 2022 and there is a serious economic contraction around the world. In 2022, as companies in the chemical industry in Turkey, we have faced problems such as cost increases, supply problems, fluctuations in exchange rates, and the
energy crisis caused by the Ukraine-Russia War.
In 2023, we will probably face price and demand fluctuations as well as other uncertainties.
As Azelis, we focus on three main issues to continue grow sustainably in these challenging market conditions and provide the highest level of services to our customers.
Our first focus area is innovation. Formulation labs are Azelis’ strongest initiative to deliver on its commitment to “innovation through formulation”. Our technical teams in different countries within the Azelis global network of 60 laboratories develop innovative formulations and contribute to the growth of our suppliers and customers.
As Azelis Turkey, we developed dozens of innovative formulations in our 4 application
centers including CASE (coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers) laboratory in 2022, conducted product performance trials, and organized numerous technical trainings. In 2023, we will continue to provide technical consultancy services.
The second is sustainability. As Azelis, we have a Platinum rating from ECOVADIS, a trusted sustainability ratings institution for procurement companies. We also rank first among 178 distributors in the list of Sustainanalytics, another leading ESG institution. In 2022, fields such as environmentally friendly and renewable chemicals, biochemistry and biocompounds continued to grow rapidly.
As Azelis, we have serious goals to increase the rate of sustainable products in our portfolio. We consider ESG ratings when making new distribution agreements. For example, last year we signed an agreement with a global leading supplier of sustainable performance minerals and added their products to our portfolio.
Our 3rd focus area is digitalization. After personal care and home care portals, we have launched CASE customer portal in February. On these digital platforms, customers can get inspiration for products, develop formulations in the e-lab using the products in Azelis portfolio, access technical documents, place orders, and request samples.
Azelis continues to deploy new digital infrastructures in areas within the company such as innovation, finance, education & development to further increase the speed and quality of our service to our customers.
Fırat Sağlam
Country Manager
Bühler Türkiye
I can say that 2022 has passed as a year of return to normal, which is called the post-covid period for almost all sectors. For Bühler, it has been a year of introducing dozens of new technologies that emerged as a result of our R&D and innovation studies, which we have done during the pandemic process without slowing down and even increasing the momentum, and reaping the fruits of this strategy. We have reached our goals in almost
every sector in which we are active, even exceeding the figures in the prepandemic period.
In the case of Bühler Turkey, we have already spent the pandemic years growing very fast and far above our targets. Turkish industrialists are enterprising, and they make and implement decisions quickly and show courage in times of crisis.
Therefore, Turkish industrialists prefer to work with reliable business partners whose
technology and services are trustworthy. For this reason, we have brought Bühler Turkey to double digit growth rates in the last 3 years, with the right strategy and right human resource investments, and by increasing our local capabilities in many ways.
I see 2023 as the year of great projects and opportunities. Especially in the EMEA Region, there is a serious potential increase as the demands in the European, Middle Eastern and African countries permanently shift from the Far East to our region.
On top of that, although the negative effects outweigh both in the humanitarian and commercial aspects, especially for the food sector, there is also an interest in Turkey in the
paint and chemical sector due to the embargo imposed on Russia.
Considering the relatively normalization of raw material supply chains and logistics prices, I think that the Turkish manufacturer will achieve a sustainable and permanent export growth in 2023. In this process, companies that invest in technology, minimize production
costs, and have efficient processes will make the difference with “others”.
I predict that structures that are dependent on the domestic market and prefer traditional
methods will be swallowed by the sector. As Bühler Turkey, we are full of hope, excitement and energy.
This year, we have set ourselves very high goals in every field, and we have no intention of losing this momentum. We aim to achieve 60% of our total annual target in the quarterly period in the 1st quarter of 2023. I hope that we will grow and develop together.
Mohamed Aish
Sales Director, MEA & Türkiye, Coating Additives
Evonik
2022 was another stormy year for our industry and our markets. However, with the new product launches and tailored innovations, we were able to overcome the market difficulties and grow our business. From a regional perspective, we benefited especially from our competitive advantages.
We have build-up local inventories to secure our supply capability to our customers. In addition, our local sales managers, Ece Panayırcı and Duygu Özgün, have maintained high customer intimacy, supported by our technical laboratory team in Tuzla, led by Alptekin Akgümüş.
We do not expect all global challenges to be solved in the short term. Nevertheless, we see a good start to 2023 in our region, with customers interested in our new products.
Our new TEGO® Therm makes insulating coatings more efficient, AEROSIL® easy to disperse enables energy reductions, our powerful defoamer TEGO® Foamex 11 for low-VOC applications, or the effective and food contact-compliant dispersant for waterborne
printing inks, TEGO® Dispers 780 W. We continue to work on new and more sustainable additives, and customers can expect several product developments.
At the same time, Evonik’s Coating Additives business is investing in new global production
capacities. In addition to product innovation, customer proximity will remain a key competitive factor for us in 2023.
That’s why we maintain a high level of customer intimacy through personal advice from our
sales and technical teams, also with the support of our high-throughput equipment, at trade shows such as the upcoming European Coatings Show, or with our 24/7 digital platform COATINO®.
Osman Yıldız
General Manager
Günkem
First of all, condolences to our entire country… We are where words end. It is very difficult to close the wounds, but I believe and hope that as the Turkish Nation, we will always do our best in unity and solidarity.
As Günkem, we continue our success in 2023 with all our strength from where we left off. Just as we achieved the targets we set in 2022 with perseverance and determination, we will reach them in 2023 with the same perseverance and determination.
The raw material supply problems we encountered in 2022, the increase in logistics costs and the problems brought by the Covid-19 process forced the entire industry to take serious precautions. I think that we have carried the process to success thanks to the advantage of our country’s strategic location and the acceleration in exports.
In this process, we have gained different sales volumes for the paints, coatings and construction industries that we address with the new product portfolios we have developed. While we observed the growth in our export volume, we also realized the growth infrastructure in our domestic market volume with projects to strengthen the country’s
conditions.
We continue to monitor the impact of the energy crisis in Europe on the sector and expand our measures within this framework. While expanding our domestic market targets, we have successfully completed our export targets for 2022.
We have already determined our targets for 2023 and we aim to achieve these targets with the best of our dedication and working power. I have full confidence in the raw material industry in Turkey, and I have no doubt that we will all complete this year with all our strength, despite all the difficulties that 2023 will bring.
Yiğit Genç
Business Unit Manager / Coatings&Construction
IMCD Türkiye
Raw material availability problems, variable price policies, serious delays in supply chain, increased logistic costs, and energy uncertainty were the major issues of 2022.
Nonetheless, in spite of the difficulties, the Coating & Construction chemicals sector compensated for the shrink in the local market by enhancing exportation, and finalized the
year in success. We as IMCD Türkiye, achieved a growth in the sales volume and turnover of Coating and Construction chemicals, and completed the year with a better performance compared to the previous year.
Coating & Construction sectors cover a major part of our product portfolio that consists of speciality chemicals. Especially during the pandemic period, increased local demands and exportations affected the sector positively.
Türkiye, due to its geographical location, acts as a bridge for its surrounding countries. Furthermore, its “construction sector” oriented economic approaches are constantly active
and dynamic. As IMCD Türkiye, I believe we showed our trust both to the sector as well as our country by initiating our Lab in 2018.
We proudly announce that we are the first company to open a Lab in this field. And we continue to serve and meet the market needs through our global technical network and experts in Türkiye.
2023 is full of uncertainties both for our country as well as the whole world. Nevertheless, based on Türkiye’s geographical location, this year we expect it to be even more important in acting as a bridge between surrounding countries and Europe.
Our expectations from 2023 are raised even more due to the incentives and new projects offered specifically to the construction sector. Same as previous years, this year also we will continue to support our customers, taking into consideration the changes in our coating and construction chemicals solutions related to market dynamics, consumer demand and requirements.
Halil Kuzucu
Head of Sales Management EMEA CASE, Rubber & Plastic Additives
Univar Solutions
The Turkish economy recorded a strong growth of 11.5% in 2021, above the expectations, in a high demand low supply imbalance and high inflationary environment.
A lower growth rate was expected in 2022 due to the Russia-Ukraine War that started in the first quarter of 2022, the energy, raw material and logistics crises that affected the whole world, and the increasing macroeconomic and financial difficulties in the country.
Türkiye’s dynamics and the export demands that emerged after the changing trends of the European market helped the producers to achieve good results in the first six months despite all kinds of negativities.
On the other hand, the second half of the year was a period when the demand in the domestic market decreased, energy prices increased by 150% in Europe, China continued its strict Covid measures, and after the decrease in domestic demand, price realizations and competition returned to intense trade as a result of the affected global markets.
The financial difficulties of reaching credit have once again demonstrated the importance of inventory management, receivables collection capability and, as a result, working capital management.
The chemical industry closed the year 2022 as the leader with its export of 33.5 billion dollars. I can say that by taking advantage of this export opportunity in our paint and construction chemicals sector, they passed the exam well, and they tried to control the liquidity by evaluating the export demands of the countries close to Türkiye.
We foresee a year 2023 in which we will return to prepandemic conditions, competition will increase more, we should be constantly in the market to control demand, and we should integrate our new suppliers in quick and healthy way.
Of course, in order to realize this foresight, well-coordinated monetary and fiscal
policies will be required that will stabilize the economy in the short term and turn attention to the realization of Türkiye’s medium-term growth potential.
As UnivarSolutions, our belief in Türkiye’s dynamics and strong demand is always at the highest level, you can see this both in our very important operational investment to increase our service quality and in our strong local company acquisition activities, which are in line with our company’s vision to continue our inorganic growth.
