ABOUT BUILDING IN TURKEY

Construction is one of the key sectors in Turkey, being one of the main drivers of the private and public investments in Turkey. As a result of economic reforms, Turkey has established a large and strong construction industry in a short time.
Turkish civil engineering companies are able to design, erect, build and operate almost all kinds of civil and industrial projects such as dams, hydroelectric and thermal power plants, industrial plants, airports and seaports, large scale petroleum and natural gas pipelines, fertiliser plants, petrochemical complexes and refineries, motorways, tunnels, bridges, large housing projects, hotels and all kinds of sophisticated buildings. Turkish construction companies have a share of 2% in the global construction market. Advanced technology, ontime delivery, quick response, high quality, use of reasonably priced Turkish labour and goods, equipment and building materials at international standards have enabled the Turkish construction and building materials sectors to compete throughout the world.
Turkey is a major producer of basic building materials such as cement, marble, building steel, pipes, timber, bricks, plastic and aluminium profiles, paints, coatings, glass, ceramic tiles, sanitaryware, building hardware and HVACR (Heating, Ventilating, AirConditioning and Refrigeration) products.

Cement

Cement, which is the basic construction material, is produced by 60 cement plants operating in Turkey. Due to the capacity expansions and investments in technology, the sector has brought the quality of cement produced up to international standards.
By the end of 2007, Turkey’s cement export ranked 4th in the world and 2nd in European countries. In 2008, the Turkish cement production was 51.4 million tons. Turkish cement industry provides employment for more than 9.6 thousand employees. In 2009, cement export reached US$ 1.2 billion. Major markets for Turkish cement exports were Iraq, Syria and Italy.

Iron & Steel

Turkey has a huge iron and steel industry, which produces major inputs for the construction industry. Raw steel production in Turkey rose to 26.8 million tons. By product type, 82.9% of total steel production was directed to long products, about 15.5% was for flat products and 1.6% was for special steel in 2008. The employment in the iron & steel industry was about 33 thousand. Total Turkish iron & steel building products exports was about US $ 8,1 billion in 2009.
Developments in the iron & steel sector also have a positive influence on the growth of production for iron or steel articles. Among iron or steel articles, casting products have considerable importance. In 2008, there were 1,189 foundries in Turkey. Turkey has a total production capacity of over 1.4 million ton. The casting sector employs more than 35 thousand employees. Turkish foundries are able to produce every kind of alloyed or unalloyed ferrous castings such as central heating, radiators, bathroom kitchen faucets, bathtubs, shower basins etc for the Turkish construction industry.
In iron & steel pipes and fittings, which is also a significant subsector; production reached 3.2 million tons in 2007. Today, Turkish welded pipe technology has developed quite well and is able to produce its own technology. Turkish iron & steel pipe sector has an important export potential by means of production capacity and product quality. In sector, pipes used for oil and gas lines are the most exported products. The other main exported product groups are circular crosssection welded iron & steel tubespipes, stainless steel welded tubes and pipes and alloy steel welded tubes and pipes.

Natural Stones

Turkey’s total marble reserves are about 5.2 billion m 3 / 13.9 billion tons. Turkey has a 40% share of the world's marble reserves.
In 2007, 2.8 million m 2 marbles were produced in Turkey. In Turkish natural stone sector, there are about 1,000 mines, 1,500 plants and 7,500 workshops.
Total processed natural stone exports were US$ 742 million in 2009. In 2009 the main countries that Turkey exported natural stones were the USA, the UK and Saudi Arabia. With its vast reserves, advanced processing techniques and capacity, Turkey is one of the important centers of the world natural stone industry.

Ceramics

Ceramics are amongst Turkey’s oldest and bestknown products. Today, there are 24 companies producing ceramic wall and floor tiles in Turkey. In 2007 production reached 260 million m². There were 10 thousand employments in the sector. Ceramic tile exports valued US$ 390 million in 2009. Main export routes for Turkish ceramics are Germany, Israel and UK.
In Turkey, there are over 40 companies, which produce ceramic sanitary ware. Six of these companies are middle and largescale, which have production capacity of over 1 million units. Turkey ranks second in Europe and 4 th in the world in the production of ceramic sanitary ware, as well. Sanitary ware production reached 260 thousand tons in 2007. Sanitary ware exports were about US$ 139 million in 2009.
In addition to the large production capacity, Turkish wall and floor tiles and sanitary ware have exquisite designs and superior quality. Most of the largescale
companies have ISO 9000 standards as well as the valid standards in major markets.

Glass

The glass industry is one of the most important and highly developed industries in Turkey.
Today, a group of companies, namely, T. Şişe ve Cam Fab. A.Ş., accounts for approximately 90% of annual production with its 26 manufacturing and 10 marketing and finance companies. There are about 20 large and mediumscale firms dealing with production in the sector other than T. Şişe ve Cam Fab. A.Ş. and a certain number of small ones also. The glass sector has approximately 17 thousand employees. The Turkish glass industry has a highly intensive production technology and a vast accumulation of know how combined with a high level of production capacity, good quality and wide sales services. The Turkish glass industry has a share of 8% in world production. The industry has shown an increasing trend in production in recent years and building glass production was over 1 million tons in 2007.
Exports of the flat glass industry have been increasing continuously and totalled US$ 93 million in 2009. The major export countries are Egypt, Azarbaijan and Libya.

Plastics

The domestic production of basic plastic raw materials has naturally resulted in a strong plastic processing industry in Turkey. At present, there are about 5,132 plastics processing companies, which are mainly small and mediumscale.
In the plastic sector, more than 205 thousand people have been employed. Production and consumption of plastic building materials, especially plastic doors and
windows, has increased in the recent years. The plastic doors and windows production capacity reached 370 thousand tons.
In the sector there are about 50 PVC profile manufacturing companies. In 2007, 300 thousand tons of PVC profile were produced. In the plastic doors and windows sector
there were 100 thousand employments.
In 2009, US$ 924 million worth of plastic building materials including plastic profiles, pipes and tubes, doors and windows were exported. The plastic building materials were exported mainly to and Libya, Iraq and the Russian Federation.
The Turkish plastic sector today has attained world standards as far as raw materials,
Semifinished and finished products are concerned. Finished plastic products are expected to comply with the related Turkish standards (TSE), International standards (ISO) and EU standards.

Paints

Parallel to the developments in the construction, automotive and marine industries of Turkey, the paints industry has also developed and has became one of the most dynamic sectors of the Turkish Industry. Turkey ranks 6th in Europe in the production of paints. Turkish paint industry comprises about 600 manufacturers; today the paint industry has a 800,000 ton capacity. The production of building paints was 580 thousand tons in 2007. The paints sector has more than 200 thousand employees.
In 2008, total value of building paints exports reached to US$ 249 million. Products of the sector were exported mainly to Iaq, Azerbaijan and Iraq.
The paint sector has reached world quality standards. The dyes and paints sector has adapted itself to ecological standards which are particularly developed in Europe.