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Ceramics


Ceramics are amongst Turkey's oldest and best known products. The first notable ceramics from Turkish lands were the tiles and bricks covered with coloured glazes made in Anatolia for architectural purposes in the 13. Century. The history of Turkish ceramics can be traced back several thousand years. In the Seljuk and Ottoman periods, ceramic art acquired new dimensions and pieces of exquisite beauty were produced.

Commercial production of ceramics started in 1965 with the foundation of the first technological plant in this field. Today, there are about 30 establishments in the industry. Twelve of them produce ceramic wall and floor tiles, eight produce sanitary ware articles. In the ceramic household articles sub-sector, there are 6 major companies as well as 250 small workshops engaged in production. There are two companies in the technical ceramics sub-sector. The total production of the industry was approximately 771,000 tonnes in 1994. The major part of production belongs to ceramic wall and floor tiles. The second important group of items in the production is sanitary ware articles and the third is household articles.

Turkey ranks 6th in the world and 4th in European in the production of ceramic tiles. Turkey ranks 5th in European in the production of sanitary ware articles. Exports of the ceramic industry have been increasing steadily. By the end of 1995 exports totalled 400,000 tonnes and $199.4 million. Ceramic tiles constitute the major part of exports. Sanitary ware articles rank second and household articles and ornaments rank third in the total ceramics industry exports. In 1995, the export figures of the above given articles were $128.9 million, $48.2 million and $11.9 million, respectively. Approximately 80% of
exports are directed to EU countries. The major export countries are Germany, The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Russian Federation, the United States and France.

Carpet

The art of carpet weaving has been a centuries-old tradition in Turkey for 3,500 years and is one of the oldest professions in the world. Turkey has a long and distinguished history of carpet-making including classical products of bygone days and the current carpet styles which are very popular as export items. This traditional art form has been preserved in its original pure form, faithfully keeping the original designs and colour combinations of each production region using mostly local raw materials. There are important carpet weaving centres in Turkey whose names reveal the value of their carpets. Each region produces its own unique style and design. The most well known of these include Hereke, Kula, Bünyan, Kayseri, Yahyali, Milas, Usak, Isparta, Yagcibedir, Kars and Gördes carpets. In 1994, Turkish carpet production included 3.7 million square meters of handmade carpets, 19.9 million square metres of machine-made carpets and 27 million square metres of tufted, felt carpets and kilims. Turkish carpet exports reached $252.2 million in 1995 with handmade carpets at $108.6 million, machine-made carpets at $129.3 million and kilims at $12.8 million. Germany is the most important export market and almost 26% of Turkish handmade carpets are sent there. Other major handmade carpet export markets include the USA, Switzerland, France, Japan, Italy and The United Kingdom.

Glass

The glass industry is one of the most important and highly developed industries in Turkey Historically, glass production dates back to the Seljuk Period. Furthermore, substantial improvements were achieved in the 17th and 18th Centuries during the Ottoman Empire. Today, a group of companies, T.Sise ve Cam Fab. A.S., accounts for approximately 80% of annual production and consist of twenty manufacturing establishments and two marketing companies. It is a highly intensive production technology and a vast accumulation of
know-how. The high level of production capacity, good quality, wide sales services and other related activities have placed the firm fifth in Europe and ninth in the world. The company is the sole producer of flat glass in the industry.
The industry has shown an increasing trend in recent years and production was approximately 1,055 thousand tonnes in 1995. The major part of production is taken up with flat glass, including both float and sheet types. The second group of items is glass containers and the third is glass household articles, including approximately 5,000 kinds of products. Apart from these, tinted and untinted glass, sand blasted glass, safety glass, enamelled glass, oven glass, glass tiles and bricks, glass tissue, laboratory equipment and the like are produced by the industry. Exports have been increasing continuously in recent years, from $121 million in 1986 to $241 million in 1995. Exports were 282,000 tonnes in the same year. Glass household articles constitute the main part of exports. Flat glass ranks second and glass containers group ranks third in the total exports of the industry. By the end of 1995, the export figures of the above items were $ 129 million, $ 40 million and $ 10.6 million, respectively. Turkish glass industry products are exported to about 100 countries in the world. The major destination countries are Germany, Italy, The United Kingdom, Egypt, France and Greece.

 

Gold Jewellery

Turkey has a very great jewellery tradition. All the civilisations which have inhabited Anatolia have produced numerous objects both for religious and artistic purposes. Hittites, Urartians, Ionians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks and Ottomans all established rule in Anatolia and created their own jewellery styles. In Istanbul the jeweller's art gained importance with the growth and prosperity of the Ottoman Empire. During and after the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent, Istanbul became one of the world's most prominent centres for jewellery. Historical sources state that jewellery fairs were held in Istanbul during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent. Today, the Turkish jewellery industry reflects a rich cultural heritage combined with modern innovative designs and technology. The modern Turkish jewellery industry includes some techniques particular to Turkey. Some of these are filigree (telkari), niello (savat) and wickerwork (hasir). In Turkey, gold has an emotional resonance. When it is given as a gift, it demonstrate s the closeness of the relationship. It has a multifaceted traditional, emotional, financial and social personality. Turkey annually imports about 110 tonnes of gold. At present there are about 40,000 jewellers in Turkey. 200-250 tonnes of gold are used in 6,000 gold-processing workshops per year. The centre for gold jewellery production is Istanbul. However, production in Ankara and Izmir is also extensive. Some cities in East Anatolia also produce gold jewellery. In 1989 and during 1990 jewellery fabrication peaked, and Turkey ranked 5th in the world. A gold stock exchange was established in September 1995 in Istanbul and there are plans to establish a gold refinery in the near future. Domestic demand for gold jewellery is very high because most Turkish people buy it both for adornment and as a means of saving. $6.36 million was spent in Turkey in 1993 on the purchase of gold jewellery. Some 4,000-5,000 tonnes of gold is believed to be kept in houses in Turkey. In the world in personal gold investment. The gold processing sector of Turkey has turned its attention to exporting its products in recent years. The saving habits of people have changed due to recent developments in the Turkish economy and they have started using another ways of investing as well as buying gold jewellery. And in 1993 the export and import restrictions on precious metals and stones were abolished. Although gold jewellery is a new sector on the export scene of Turkey, its performance is quite good and export value has increased dramatically. By the end of 1995, exports totalled $60.4 million. The 1995 major destination countries for gold jewellery exports were Germany, the USA and Japan.

 

Leather

Since the 1970s, the leather and leather products industry has played an ever increasing role in Turkey's economy. The leather industry is among the leading export sectors of Turkey. Its annual export value is approximately $650 million. In addition to this, an amount almost equal to half of Turkey's officially recorded leather exports comes from sales in the tourism sector. Initial efforts to modernise the leather industry began in the 70s but significant progress on a real industrial scale only began in the mid-80s. The sector has developed very rapidly in the last years. The numbers of Organised Industrial Zones have increased. Waste water treatment plants have been completed. Technological advancement is growing rapidly. Today average daily usage of leather in the industry is 600 tonnes and is expected to rise to 2,500 tonnes when production reaches full capacity in the Tuzla and Menemen Organised Leather Industry Zones. In these areas, production methods are being converted into modern techniques. Now the leather industry is capable of processing 20% sheep and goat skins of total quantity produced throughout the world. Total exports of the leather industry were $590.7 million in 1995. Leather goods, footwear and accessories accounted for 31.2% of the total leather exports in 1995. The share of leather garments was 68.8% in the total exports. The Turkish leather garments industry is in a strong position to export high quality products and the manufacturing companies are following the latest fashions in the world. In 1995, leather garments exports were $406.9 million. The majority of these garments went to Germany (42.7%) and France (16.2%). Other major markets for Turkish leather exports are the Russian Federation, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the USA, Belgium, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, The United Kingdom and Switzerland. Turkish footwear exports have increased in recent years. Starting with $1.2 million in 1981, Turkish footwear exports have reached a figure of almost $114.5 million and 32.8 million pairs in 1995. The main markets for footwear exports are the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Poland, The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. Turkey has one of the world's most advanced leather bag industries and its products are famous for their excellent materials, their superior styling and distinctive use of colour. Turkish bag exports reachde $34.8 million in 1995.

 

Furniture

In Turkey, the furniture sector dates back to the 19th Century, in the form of small workshops and artisan production. Generally, the small workshops play an important role in the production of hand carved and handmade furniture. Furniture firms are situated mainly in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa, Adana, Eski_ehir and Kayseri. The largest furniture manufacturing city in Turkey is Ankara. There are about 5 important furniture manufacturers which have mass production capabilities in Ankara. The other firms are small ones which are labour intensive. The second furniture production district is Istanbul including the region of Bolu-Düzce which is famous for its production of wood products. Izmir is also a furniture producing district which supplies furniture to the Aegean Region. The fourth important region in furniture manufacturing is the Inegöl-Bursa area. Substantial growth was recorded in furniture exports during the period 1991-1995. Total furniture exports increased from $16 million in 1991 to roughly $64 million in 1995. Turkish furniture is exported mainly to EU countries, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the United States and Japan.

 

Textile and Clothing

The industrialisation efforts of the 60's and 70's gave birth to the modern textile
industry in Turkey. At the beginning, this sector was operating as small workshops. But the sector showed rapid development and during the 1970's began exporting. Turkey's textile and clothing industry has grown very rapidly during the past decade and currently is one of the most important sectors in the Turkish economy in terms of GDP, employment and exports.

Today, Turkey is one of the important textile and clothing producers and exporters in the world. In 1993, Turkey had a market share of 3.3% in world clothing exports. Turkey, as a traditional cotton grower, has a big advantage in the production of textiles and clothing. In 1995, the amount of cotton grown in Turkey was around 600,000 tonnes and with this amount, Turkey now ranks 6th among cotton producing countries. As a consequence of the availability of raw cotton in huge amounts, the Turkish spinning, weaving and knitting industries have also been developed. In 1995, the estimated amount of cotton yarn produced was 610,000 tonnes and estimated cotton fabric production was
1,275 million meters.

On the other hand, parallel to worldwide developments in usage and consumption and the production of man-made fibres and the finished products of man-made fibres has also developed in Turkey.

Turkey also has a strong woollen textile and clothing industry. Production volume of the Turkish clothing industry has increased in parallel to the increases in foreign demand. In 1995, the estimated production volume of clothing was 133,000 tonnes. Textile and clothing manufacturers are mainly located in Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa, Denizli, Adana, Eski_ehir, Ankara, Çoru, Malatya, Gaziantep, U_ak and Kahramanmara_. While total value of Turkish textile and clothing exports was $6.4 billion in 1994, it reached $8.3 billion in 1995 and the total value of clothing exports was $5.6 billion in 1995. With these figures, the Turkish textile and clothing sector had a share of 38% in total exports of the country and the clothing sector, with its share o 26%, was the most
important sector in Turkey's exports. Some major markets for Turkish clothing exports in 1995 were Germany, the USA, the Russian Federation, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy. In 1995, the European Union accounted for 54% of total Turkish textile and clothing exports. The amount of Turkey's textile and clothing exports reached $5.3 billion in 1995. At the beginning of 1996 the Customs Union was established between Turkey and the EU and all the EU's quantity restrictions on Turkish textile and clothing
were eliminated. It is expected that increasing trends of textile and clothing were eliminated. It is expected that increasing trends of textile and clothing exports into this market will continue in the future.

While Turkey's textile and clothing exports to the EU have been increasing steadily, the share of the EU has begun to decrease due to the increase in importance of other markets such as the USA, the Russian Federation, the Eastern European countries, the newly emerging states of the former Soviet Union, the Middle Eastern countries and Canada. As a consequence of promotional events and efforts of Turkish textile and clothing sector
through the US market, exports of Turkish products to this market show an increase as do Turkish textile and clothing exports to the Eastern European countries, the Russian Federation and newly emerging states of the former Soviet Union. Today the Turkish textile and clothing industry has a good reputation in foreign markets and one of the main goals of the sector is to promote and market the products with its own brand names. Besides, this sector follows the international developments related to quality, environment, health and safety regulations and takes measurements to adapt itself to the changes.