In the interview we held, Drachem Founder and General Manager Mr. Tolga Sarı gave information about the products and services offered by Drachem.
Could you please briefly tell us about yourself, your educational and professional background?
I was born in 1978 in Istanbul. I graduated from the business faculty. For 22 years, I have worked as a middle and senior manager in various fields of the chemical industry, both at home and abroad.
13 of these 22 years were in the field of factory management, which includes production, investment, quality, and logistics. In this process, I worked in 2 companies that are sector leaders in their fields in Turkey. Later, with these experiences, sales-marketing and finance were added and I carried out senior management duties for 9 years.
For this reason, I can say that these 13 years, spent in the beginning with production, facility management, and investment, allowed me to come to the sector from the kitchen, so to speak. I learned a lot, which has been a serious advantage for me over the years.
Understandably, on average, 7 out of 10 top managers who work as General Managers in Turkey are sales-based, 2 of them are finance-based, and only 1 is production-based. This has sometimes been an important selection criterion.
I had senior management duties abroad and at the end of 2019, I returned from abroad and joined an important investment activity of the sector as the General Manager. During
this period, as a company and team, we established an important facility and achieved significant sales success.
At the end of 2021, I ended my professional management life and started an initiative to establish the “Drachem Chemical Company”.
Could you please give information about Drachem’s history and milestones? What is the current structure of Drachem today?
Drachem’s first founding idea and alternatives for the name of the company were born in Germany. Then we decided to put it into operation in Turkey. At the end of 2021, the company was established in Turkey, and in 2022 it made a quick start to its sales and marketing activities in Turkey.
In Turkey, there are very large and valuable chemical raw material producers and sales companies that have invested in this business and the sector for years. Their services and efforts to our industry and manufacturing companies are indisputable.
As Drachem, we aim to be permanent among these companies by working and laboring like them. Success is important but more important than that is permanence and sustainability.
To which industries and with what kind of products does Drachem mainly serve? Could you please give information about Drachem’s products, brands and services?
As Drachem, we aim to specialize in certain raw material groups and to have a permanent place in the market. We have 3 main product sales groups, such as the “acetate group” containing ethyl and butyl acetate products, the “acid group” containing 2 more acid products together with acetic acid, and the “solvent group” containing alcohol, IPA, etc. products. We plan to continue our activities only in these product groups in the coming periods.
Could you please tell about your domestic and international sales activities? To which regions and what kind of products does Drachem mainly sell?
As it is known, we are selling the products produced in Antalya facilities of Adokim, Turkey’s first domestic producer of ethyl acetate and butyl acetate.
While it was almost impossible to see investments during the pandemic period in Turkey, Adokim provided an important investment and facility by showing a great example of courage with the confidence it has in our country and industry.
We are also proud to sell Adokim products together with my teammates. We regularly bring
and sell our acetic acid product to Turkey every month. We have a monthly sales tonnage of up to 3,000 metric tons in these 2 product groups. Apart from this, we are making an entrance in Europe especially with our acid product group.
Could you please give information about Drachem’s innovation and R&D studies?
As you know, we are a sales company. However, nowadays it is impossible to stay away from technology and innovation. We use the latest ERP management systems in our company, apart from that we decided to invest in CRM.
Thus, we will achieve our goal of categorizing and determining customer habits and consumption trends very well and providing the fastest and best service. Today, while the competition is so great, bringing your service level and quality to the top will make you
privileged.
What are your views on the Turkish chemical industry and its current development?
We can say that the Turkish chemical industry has been living its golden age in recent years. After the automotive sector, the biggest increase in exports is in the chemical sector.
Especially during the pandemic period, while many European manufacturers declared Force
Majeure, and stopped their facilities and production, the Turkish chemical industry worked uninterruptedly and multiplied its capacity during this period.
On the other hand, the 60-90 days of supply times from the Far East to Europe, especially from China, caused the eyes to turn to Turkey in the post-pandemic period when demand was high and fast supply was required. Wherever you look, there was no country closer to Europe than Turkey.
On the other hand, the fact that freight prices, especially in the Far East, reached the highest levels in history, made Turkey and the Turkish chemical industry an important supplier for Europe and nearby geographies and reinforced this.
Besides, it was almost impossible to get bookings for ships to Europe. In the last 2 years, we have experienced a period in which there is a serious demand in the chemical industry not only in terms of production but also in terms of logistics.
These are the positive developments we have experienced for our country, but on the other hand, Turkey is not in the position of a main raw material producer country, let’s accept this. In the position of a semi-finished and finished product producer.
We must work with all our might to come to the position that produces the main raw material with long-term planning and investments. Chemistry exists in every aspect of our lives.
We are heading towards a direction in which the world is and will be governed by, those who produce computer and software technology, and those who produce chemistry and pharmacology technology and products.
Could you please tell us about Drachem’s investment plans and future goals?
We have completed and ongoing investments in information technologies such as ERP and CRM. In addition, we have serious investment plans in terms of logistics activities. We will share them in the future.
In parallel with these investments, our target is to increase our sales by 25-30% in 2023. In exports, our primary market is always Europe. A sales organization where 30% of our sales will be exported is also our short-term target for 2023.
