JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #75 - August/September 2012 - 19

turkey

Turkey: a steadily growing composite market

Thanks to its strong industrial dynamism and large investments, Turkey is became today an significant actor of composite market. During this interview, Ismail Hakki Hacialioglu, Chairman of the Turkish Composites Manufacturers Association will explain how Turkey succeed to challenge the 2009 crisis, which sector are currently doing well and what is expected for the future.
impact of the worldwide crisis. Today, North America accounts for 34% of the composite market, Europe for 22%, Asia for 37% and other countries for 7%. The total global composite production reached 6.2 million tons in 2011, with an annual increase rate around 5%. Over the same period, European production was 1.4 million tons, with an average annual growth at 4.5%. The composite sector, which is a young sector in Turkey, rapidly recovered from the impact of the crisis and caught up with the 10% growth rate of the pre-crisis period thanks to strong industrial dynamism and the fact that composite products and services are implemented quickly. In 2011, the Turkish composite industry reached approximately 200,000 tons, creating €1 billion in value. Turkey’s composite industry is facing the future with confidence with approximately 200 medium-

and large-sized companies, nearly 800 organizations engaged in composite business on a partial basis and approximately 5,000 employees. The sector-based distribution of composite products in Turkey is as follows: Both worldwide and in Turkey, the use of composites in the automotive, construction and infrastructure sectors accounts for more than half
Distribution of GRP products by sector (year 2011)

production 7% and SMC & BMC 6%. The number of firms using machine-intense production technologies is growing steadily in the Turkish market and the sector is moving from open moulding to more mechanized processes.
JCM: How was the first quarter of 2012 for the sector? What are the targets for the first half and the year-end? What are the current or future investments?

Pipes, tanks Construction and infrastrucutre Automotive and transportation Marine Electrical and electronics Wind energy Consumer products Other

48%

Ismail Hakki Hacialioglu Chairman Turkish Composites Manufacturers Association

19%

17%

JEC Composites Magazine: How do you rate the performance of the composite sector in 2011 in terms of turnover, production capacity, growth rate, export & import figures, etc.? Could you tell us about the investments made in the sector?

4% 4% 2% 2% 4%

the 2009 decline, the composite sector entered into a new but not very strong growth trend as of 2010 and caught up with the previous growth rates in 2011. The sector then started to show very fast development with the diminishing

Ismail Hakki Hacialioğlu: Following

of the total composite use. In terms of processes, filament winding and centrifugal casting used for GRP pipe production in Turkey represent 45% of the total volume and RTM and hand lay-up have a share of 30%. Engineering plastics account for 10% of the total volume, continuous sheet

I. H. H.: We anticipate that the composite sector will particularly develop in four main sectors in Turkey in the upcoming period. These sectors are GRP pipes, automotive, wind energy and construction. In order to solve the drought problem induced by global warming, irrigation investments are on the increase both in the Middle East and in Turkey. GRP pipes start to account for a significant part of these investments. Reducing the carbon emissions and fuel consumption of vehicles is a priority for the automotive sector. The simplest solution is to manufacture lighter vehicles. For this reason, composite parts are increasingly replacing metallic parts and gaining market share.
Over the past years, the world’s nations attempting to turn away from fossil fuels

No75 August - September 2012

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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #75 - August/September 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #75 - August/September 2012