Cavidan Karaca, CEO of Kimpur, Answers Our Questions

Cavidan Karaca, CEO of Kimpur, which ranks among Turkey's largest 500 industrial enterprises, answered our questions about the company's new investments, R&D and sustainability activities.

Could you tell us about yourself and your professional background so our readers can get to know you better?

I graduated from Middle East Technical University's Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1992. I am married and have one daughter. Over the past 30 years, I have held positions as manager in procurement and production functions across multiple sectors, served as management consultant, crisis manager and general director in company transformation initiatives. Since 2014, I have been serving as CEO of Kimpur, Turkey's first domestically-owned and largest-capacity polyurethane systems house. [caption id="attachment_157141" align="aligncenter"] Cavidan Karaca[/caption]

Could you share Kimpur's development process from its founding to today, as well as the sectors and product groups it currently serves?

Kimteks Kimya was established in 1983 as a small chemical company. What began as a side operation by two partners supplying materials to the synthetic leather, rubber and paints sectors grew rapidly over time and became the main business. Polyurethane systems for shoe soles were added to the product range in particular. In 1999, we began producing our own polyurethane systems. Shortly afterwards, we began working to establish a presence in areas beyond the footwear sector. In 2015, Kimteks Polyurethane, having ceased distribution activities in other sectors and separated from Kimteks Kimya as a separate company, continued the polyurethane business as an independent entity under the Kimpur brand. Today, Kimpur ranks among Turkey's largest 500 industrial enterprises and is the polyurethane systems house with the largest capacity in the region, with 130,000 tons at its Gebze facility and 30,000 tons at its new facility in Düzce, for a total of 160,000 tons in Turkey, and 25,000 tons through its affiliate in Europe. With the second phase of our Düzce investment coming online, we aim to increase our capacity to over 200,000 tons. Additionally, we maintain our leading position in the sector by exporting to more than 50 countries across 5 continents. The polyurethane systems we produce are used in various sectors including footwear, automotive, furniture, heating and cooling, insulation and construction, and defence industry. Our product groups consist of footwear systems, rigid foam systems, flexible systems, prepolymers, polyester polyols and thermoplastic polyurethanes. As Kimpur, we continue to contribute to various industries with this dynamic and expanding range that has been sustained and broadened since our establishment.

Could you describe the capabilities of your R&D centre and the work you conduct there? Have you introduced any innovative products to the polyurethane sector in recent times?

As Turkey's first 100% domestically-owned polyurethane systems manufacturer, Kimpur ranks among the select few companies in the country and the world in the sector through its technology and R&D investments. Kimpur R&D, one of our most important competitive advantages, has been registered as an R&D centre by the Ministry of Industry since May 2017. The importance we attach to R&D and innovation is the most significant factor in our growth. Kimpur R&D, one of our most valuable competitive advantages, distinguishes itself through its ability to provide customised solutions to customers and continuous pursuit of innovation. Our R&D team works with a perspective nourished by curiosity, supported by a modern R&D centre with the ability to simulate projects. This enables our customer collaborations and projects to be shaped and realised in the best possible way. In 2023, we continued to focus on sustainable and value-added products. With the awareness that natural resources are finite, we synthesised high-functionality bio-based polyols and began using these polyols in the production of our discontinuous KIMrigid® Sandwich Panel Systems. This step helped us contribute to sustainable resources, natural and circular economy, and reduce the carbon footprint resulting from our production. It also enabled us to provide solutions for our customers' product lifecycle. Through the halogen-free nature of this bio-based sandwich panel system, which we call 'GREEN PIR', we have introduced a product to the sector that is safe in terms of environmental and human health. Additionally, we developed KIMrigid® Solar Energy and Boiler systems containing environmentally-friendly blowing agents, adding two new products to our sustainable product portfolio. These systems stand out by carrying energy into the future with excellent insulation properties, while minimising harmful environmental effects through HFO and water-based blowing agents. To our KIMfoot® Footwear Systems product group, we added two new fusbet systems based on viscose and polyester. These systems offer ergonomic features with foot health in mind and create a difference in the sector with their ultra-lightweight and easy foot-conforming properties. We continue developing products for many different sectors. In recent weeks, we launched our KIMcase® Elastomer System developed for hand truck wheels. Beyond these, we have also implemented our projects for maritime applications, ballistic applications, sealing applications and various military applications in the defence industry. We are very pleased with the strong interest shown in our new products. We continue our work at full pace to bring sustainable, innovative and value-added products to the sector.

You have undertaken numerous investments recently. Could you share details about these investments with us and tell us about the features of your new production facility in Düzce?

As our Gebze facility could no longer meet our growth targets, we decided to establish our second production facility in Turkey in Düzce, and this new facility began production in recent months. At our new facility in Düzce Gümüşova OSB, with a capacity of 65,000 tons, we support our green product range with a 5,000-ton-capacity recycling facility in addition to our existing 50,000-ton polyurethane systems product group. We are also expanding our product range by adding 10,000 tons of additional 'EVA granule raw material' production capacity. Our Düzce facility, with total investment costs exceeding TRY 400 million, has also brought its solar power plant (SPP) online. Through this, we aim to reduce energy costs in production and thereby increase our competitive strength in export and domestic markets. As part of this project, we are focusing on our sustainability targets and promoting recycling. Additionally, at our facility we plan to meet approximately 55% of electricity consumption and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 679 tons per year. Since our establishment, we have placed great emphasis on technology and R&D investments and provide customised solutions to our customers. To sustain this, we continue our investments at full speed. In 2022, we undertook numerous investments to develop sustainable products. We are continuing our work in implementing our projects in this scope this year as well. In addition, we are making moulds and equipment investments with the latest technology to continuously improve our production. This year in particular, we began developing special products for the defence industry, and we will continue our work with new investments to expand our product range in the future. To strengthen our presence in Europe, we undertook an investment of 25,000 tons capacity in Latvia. In this context, in cooperation with Adamantan SA, we established a new company named SIA Kimpur Europe in Latvia. In addition to our investments in Turkey, with our investments abroad, we aim to grow rapidly in global markets and become a global leader in the sector. In line with our global structure, we are making investments to establish new companies in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States to increase our effectiveness in our target markets.

In the "Turkey's Top 1000 Exporters" list announced by TİM last year, you climbed 112 positions at once. Could you tell us about your export activities and the factors that enabled this export success?

In the top 1,000 exporters list published annually by the Turkish Exporters Assembly, we have managed to climb positions each year and reach the top 500. This year, rising 112 positions compared to last year, we ranked 456th. As Turkey's first 100% domestically-owned polyurethane systems manufacturer, we hold a leading position, exporting to more than 50 countries. One of the most important factors underlying these achievements is the great importance we attach to R&D and innovation. This approach, a key factor in reaching our targets, enabled us to create a competitive portfolio by continuously developing new products and technologies and respond quickly to customer demands. The continuous diversification of our product range and the care we have shown to high quality standards created trust and demand in different markets, contributing to our success. Additionally, we continue to grow in markets we view as opportunities by further expanding our export targets. By expanding our current export country portfolio, we have managed to increase our effectiveness and market share in European and British markets. With our investment of 25,000 tons capacity in Latvia, we aimed to establish a more effective presence in Europe. This enabled us to increase access to new markets and encourage regional growth. In addition to all these efforts, we have taken important steps to fulfil our responsibilities in sustainability. By developing environmentally-friendly practices and products aligned with sustainable production targets, we have reflected our environmental sensitivity and assisted our customers in achieving their sustainability targets. Over the past 5 years, we have managed to increase our exports significantly, and in 2022, our export and export-registered sales reached TRY 1.594 billion with a 189% increase. In 2024, we aim to continue our strong performance by further expanding our export markets. Congratulations on winning the "Low Carbon Hero" award at the Istanbul Carbon Summit held this year. What sustainability work contributed to winning this meaningful award? At the Istanbul Carbon Summit held for the eighth time this year, we were deemed worthy of the Low Carbon Hero Award with our project titled "Our Energy is Sun, Our Future is Sustainable", which is a great source of pride for us. This project represents a major step towards clean energy. With the solar energy system we brought online at our Gebze facility, we aim to meet approximately 20% of our energy from clean sources. Additionally, we have achieved successful results in energy efficiency. In 2020 and 2021, we achieved high rates of energy savings of 11.58% and 7.06% respectively. In 2022, despite our production volume increasing 23% compared to the previous year, our carbon emissions increased only 5.1%. This is a result of our sustainability efforts. We are making great efforts to keep our carbon emissions under control. Through social responsibility projects and R&D work, we also aim to contribute to society and the environment. Through these efforts, we aim not only to grow ourselves but also to help increase public awareness of sustainability and contribute to it. This award reflects our commitment to sustainability and environmental protection and gives us motivation to move further forward.

We will continue our work with determination for a more sustainable and liveable world in the future. Finally, could you share Kimpur's future targets?

With the completion of our Düzce facility, we will have increased our current capacity to over 200,000 tons. Through this, we aim to strengthen our position by entering the global top 10 in our sector, increase our visibility and competitive strength in global markets, and continue our profitable and sustainable growth. We aim to increase our export portfolio and establish greater presence in global markets by expanding our access to new markets and encouraging regional growth. With our Kimpur Europe affiliate, we are targeting growth in Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries. Beyond this, we plan to enhance our export organization and development, strengthen our presence in the American market and plan sustained growth in this market. We continue our work to realise the targets we have set in line with our sustainable development objectives and priorities, always keeping sustainability as our focus. We particularly aim to make further progress in energy efficiency and controlling carbon emissions. As in every year, this year we are increasing our R&D investments and developing projects to introduce innovative and sustainable products that lead the sector to the market. We plan to implement our current projects for improvements in the lifecycle of our products to reduce our environmental impact and our Defence Industry-related work, which we accelerated in 2022, and implement new projects with the partnerships we have laid the foundation for. Within the scope of our community approach, we are planning new collaborations for our projects and social responsibility work that touch all our stakeholders, from our employees to the community in which we operate. Particularly with the activation of our Düzce facility, we will not only add value to the region but also provide employment opportunities in the region. We aim to significantly increase our sales volume and the export share in total sales in 2023 through our competitive-advantage technologies, strong financial structure, innovations and strategies. In parallel with the polyurethane sector; we have focused on horizontal growth by acquiring companies or supporting start-ups that we believe will create synergy in the chemical sector, and we are working in this direction. Additionally, we will continue our R&D activities and continue to introduce innovative products that lead the polyurethane sector. We will continue to build a competitive product portfolio by providing customised solutions to our customers and responding quickly to their demands.