Interview with Cemil Çakar, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Karex

We conducted an enjoyable interview with Cemil Çakar, Board Chairman of Karex, in which we discussed the company's new projects. Çakar shared Karex's 30-year success story with us.

Could you briefly tell our readers about yourself, your education, and your professional background in the sector?

I am a graduate of the Economics Faculty at Istanbul University. Over my 30 years of international trade experience, the last 20 years have been devoted to the petrochemical and plastic raw materials trading and distribution sector. Currently, I serve as Honorary Trade Adviser to the Government of Thailand, and as Deputy Chairman of DEIK Korea and Thailand Business Councils.

Karex has been developing since its establishment. Could you tell us about this development process?

Our company has been able to provide uninterrupted service for 20 years by closely monitoring market developments, anticipating our customers' needs in advance, and creating supply alternatives for them. In line with market developments, our company has continuously updated its product portfolio and shifted from basic raw materials towards more advanced, high-performance raw materials. We currently provide raw material supply services to approximately 20 different sectors.

What are Karex's products and product groups? Which sectors do you serve?

Karex operates under three main categories: plastic raw materials, including basic plastic raw materials (PP, PE, PVC, PET, etc.), engineering plastics (PC, ABS, PA, SAN, PMMA, POM, PBT, etc.), bio-based biodegradable compostable polymers; chemical raw materials, including polyol, adipic acid, maleic anhydride, phthalic anhydride, plasticizer groups, BPA, IPA, pentane, and crude naphthalene.

Could you tell us about your sales activities? Which regions are your primary sales focus?

We primarily sell to the Turkish market. In recent years, we have begun sales to Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, North Africa and Middle East countries, and we aim to increase our sales in these markets.

What does Industry 4.0 mean for you? To what extent is the polyurethane sector implementing Industry 4.0?

Until now, we have been positioned as a raw material supplier in the polyurethane value chain. Currently, we are conducting feasibility studies for the production of cast polyurethane specialty products, which we plan to launch in early 2020. Our goal with this investment is to produce specialized products as solutions to customer needs for specific projects. We plan to establish a partnership with a company that has expertise in specialty product manufacturing.

Could you provide information about the companies whose distribution you handle?

Karex has been selling products from reputable global companies for many years, including Thailand-based PTT GLOBAL CHEMICAL, SCG, Korea-based LOTTE, DAELIM, HANWHA, SK, LG, India-based SUPREME, IGPCL, and Germany-based BASF, LANXESS. In recent years, we have begun sales to Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, North Africa and Middle East countries, and we aim to increase our sales in these markets.

Could you provide information about your R&D and sustainability initiatives?

Sustainability is a priority on our company's agenda, and we are working to increase the proportion of environmentally friendly products in our product portfolio that have carbon emission reduction effects and can fully biodegrade in nature. We monitor all developments in this field globally and are acquiring new distributorships in this area.

Anything else you would like to add…

In 2020, I would like to note that we will have a more active role in the market with an important raw material that a global manufacturer—whose name I cannot disclose at this time due to our confidentiality agreement—will begin producing for the polyurethane sector.