2020-2021 Sector Assessment (Turkcoat Magazine)

The pandemic period we experienced made 2020 a very challenging year for the global economy. Turkey adapted quickly to the pandemic process and knew how to keep its wheels turning. Our industrial sector continued its operations without major losses and remained one of the leading countries in the region. Despite declining demand in the first two quarters, Dow succeeded in becoming the leader of its sector globally as of the third quarter. We quickly took protective measures worldwide, transitioned to remote working systems, and made our operations more flexible. Although we were physically distant from most of our employees, we endeavored to stay as close as possible to all our employees and customers and to meet their needs. Thanks to the tremendous dedication shown by our factory workers in particular, we continued our production without disruption to our operations and successfully completed the pandemic year. [caption id="attachment_124106" align="alignleft"] Durmuş Topçu President, Dow Turkey and Central Asian Republics[/caption]   We also realized our rapid adaptation to the process in the area of social responsibility. We digitalized our corporate social responsibility efforts and succeeded in reaching different groups in need in different ways as a response to the pandemic. We are very pleased with the contributions we have made to our society. Turkish industry is very agile and can adapt to any situation very quickly. Although COVID-19 has affected the global economy, I believe Turkey has managed this process successfully. Recently, I hope that the disruptions in global product transportation caused by COVID-19 will return to normal as soon as possible. In 2021, we have everything we need to succeed. I believe that with our competent workforce, the diversity of our industry, our exports, our determination, and our sound economic policies, we will maintain our growth trend. The attraction of new investments to our country and the establishment of new value chains will also create new opportunities for our nation. We believe that this year our country will make significant progress, especially in adapting to the Green Deal, which is the first item on the agenda of European industry, and in the field of circular economy. We see that circular economy efforts will help preserve our country's competitive strength and that it is essential for different sector representatives to come together within this framework and evaluate work that can be done jointly. With the pandemic, sustainable investments and sustainability efforts worldwide have also accelerated significantly. Within the next 20 years, we will begin to count the carbon footprint required for the production of every product purchased by the end user, which will force all units in the value chain from production to consumption to reduce their carbon footprint. I believe that all actors who move late in this process will fall behind in the sustainability race. For this reason, we must start working together now for the future. As Dow, we established our sustainability goals 25 years ago for the first time. Since then, we have succeeded in making sustainability part of our corporate culture. We determined our sustainability goals not only to improve our business performance but also to meet the urgent needs of the ecosystem. In addition to the goals we announced in 2015, we also announced our new sustainability goals covering the 2030-2050 period last year.

• To protect the climate, we will reduce our annual net carbon emissions by 5 million tons by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050 in line with the Green Deal.
• To prevent waste, by 2030 we will ensure the collection, reuse, or recycling of 1 million tons of plastic through direct measures and collaborations.
• To complete the waste cycle, by 2035 we will ensure that all of our products for packaging applications are reusable or recyclable.

We want to take responsibility on these issues in our country and be part of the solution by developing multi-stakeholder projects to address the problems of our world.

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As Fuchs Kimya, during the ongoing pandemic process whose effects we believe will continue to impact our daily lives and habits for some time, our priority has been the safety of our employees, business partners, and service providers. As Fuchs Kimya, from the moment the pandemic was first seen in our country, we entered the home office working process and returned to the office on a rotational basis starting from the summer months. [caption id="attachment_124108" align="alignleft"] Oskar J. Fuchs General Manager, Fuchs Kimya A.Ş.[/caption] Today we continue to conduct our meetings both within the company and with our suppliers via MS Teams video calls. If we are to evaluate 2020 in general, despite all the difficulties and the currency fluctuations we experienced, we are pleased that our sector successfully passed through this period and that as Fuchs Kimya we ended this year with growth. We have started 2021 with a very different perspective than 2020. When the pandemic process emerged in 2020, we had some concerns; however, we can see that the supply-related difficulties we foresaw have become more noticeable as of 2021. In this process, the strategies followed by major factories producing basic chemicals in particular, the logistics difficulties experienced, and on the other hand, the continued demand, push us this year to be more careful and planned in our supply chain. In this process, with all the suppliers we represent, each of which is a leading company in its field, we have made forecasts and even placed orders on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis while taking all past precautions and measures. Through this, we plan to meet the ongoing demand in a timely and planned manner without causing any supply problems to all the customers we serve. In the sector where we have been serving for many years, the most essential element of the trustworthy supplier image that has been formed between us and our customers over the years is our sustainable and stable structure. Based on this understanding, we have endless confidence that we will successfully complete 2021 with growth and without problems despite the likely supply difficulties.  

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With the start of the pandemic in March 2020, 60% of our employees started working from home and coming to the office on a rotational basis. Having our colleagues work remotely and equipped with the necessary digital working platforms has put our company, which adapts quickly to change, ahead in competition. As remote work becomes permanent, we are rapidly preparing our company for new processes. [caption id="attachment_124109" align="alignleft"] Ayhan Güler General Manager, Safic Alcan Kimya[/caption] To meet our customers' demands and for product presentations, we organize various webinars and meetings using our digital infrastructure. Starting with April 2020, the decline in demand continued until the last quarter of the year. In the last quarter of last year, demand worldwide reached normal levels and the sector's raw material needs were higher than expected. In 2021, due to the difficulties we experienced in raw material procurement, we continued to supply raw materials to our customers thanks to the communication we established with our supply chains abroad. Despite all the negativities, we ended 2020, which was a difficult year due to the pandemic, general economic balances, and currency increases, with growth. In light of all parameters, for 2021, the results of the current vaccines and measures taken on the pandemic will be important factors determining the course of the economy. Wishing 2021 to bring pandemic-free days and abundant prosperity to all members of the sector and our country...